PAST FORGETTING 'WAVERLY'S' VIEW OF AGING NOT ALWAYS AN EASY ONE.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

GLADYS GREEN was smart and vibrant, a former lawyer turned Bohemian art gallery owner. Gladys Green was political, free-spirited, devoted to her family and, we suspect, fiercely independent.

This description does not fit the character Kenneth Lonergan places front and center in his play ``The Waverly Gallery.'' Not close.

No. As depicted by Eve Roberts, a terrifyingly authentic performance at the center of Pasadena Playhouse's production of ``Waverly,'' Gladys Green recites a continuous, semi-coherent loop. Her eyesight isn't great, and her hearing is worse. She forgets things mere seconds after they've left her mouth. She asks the same repetitive questions, but doesn't process the answers. Then she asks again.

Her family, while concerned, has adapted in ways that demonstrate that understanding is not the same thing as compassion. Daughter Ellen (Natalija Nogulich) and grandson Daniel (Michael Weston) lose patience with Gladys and get angry with her. They talk about Gladys' condition in her hearing and lie to her when it's convenient. Yet Lonergan would have us believe that, given the circumstances, Gladys' family is no more to blame for short fuses than Gladys is for driving them over the edge.

Aging - to use a strictly medical term - sucks. Although the word is never mentioned, Gladys Green probably has Alzheimer's disease, but her family doesn't want to place Gladys in a convalescent home. Testy and exhausted though they might be, they still care about her comfort and dignity.

Lonergan, who was so dead-on in his depiction of a brother-sister relationship in the film ``You Can Count on Me,'' serves up ``Waverly's'' conundrums with equal truth. Director Bruno Kirby's production is utterly relentless, and his cast takes no shortcuts - humorous or otherwise. Given ``Waverly's'' subject and its treatment, this is a very difficult evening.

Also an arresting one. If Lonergan hasn't lived through an experience like this himself, then he must know somebody who has. Kirby's cast is seamless, from Nogulich and Weston to Mark Rosenthal as the artist who takes up residence in Gladys' gallery to David Groh as a developer. The cast's expert use of overlapping dialogue - lucid and nonsensical - is a feat all by itself.

``I want to tell you about my grandma,'' says Daniel, in his fourth wall- breaking role as narrator. He addresses us after participating in a 10-minute conversation with Gladys that gives a flavor of what life with this woman must be like. Gladys still goes to her gallery and negotiates her way around a nearby Greenwich Village apartment - Daniel lives down the hall - but the cracks are becoming visible. Then things get progressively worse.

The closest glimpse we get of a pre-demented Gladys is her encounter with Rosenthal's Don Bowman, the artist from Boston who drops by her gallery to pedal paintings and ends up staying as a tenant and exhibitor. Don is a smartly written character. Instead of being simply an opportunist, he becomes kind of a surrogate family member to Gladys. Don's also a little clueless; he thinks Gladys' problems would be solved with a better hearing aid.

At intermission, ushers assured me the cast was working to tighten the pace - which runs two hours but feels longer - perhaps out of fear that weak-stomached patrons might flee at the break. Leaving would be a mistake, but an understandable decision. The darker corners of human existence aren't the easiest demons to face. ``The Waverly Gallery'' will hit home with many people. That's its strength and its curse.

THE WAVERLY GALLERY - Three and one half stars

Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday; through Aug. 11.

Tickets: $29.50 to $44.50. Call [phone].

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Photo:

Ken Lerner, left, Michael Weston, Natalija Nogulich and Eve Roberts celebrate life in a birthday scene from ``The Waverly Gallery.''

Sarah Reingewirtz/Staff Photographer