RHETORIC ASIDE, 'ROAD' STRIKES A SUCCESSFUL TONE.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

As students at the nation's foremost university for the deaf effectively shut down the school in an act of protest over the appointment of a hearing president, a delegation from from New Mexico packs up a rickety bus and heads east. Each passenger has his or her own journey to complete. Each has a connection - symbolic or otherwise - to the revolution taking place at Gallaudet University.

Whether they actually arrive in Washington, D.C., in time to be part of the Gallaudet uprising is beyond the point. The road trip is a journey of understanding - between hearing and deaf, between mothers and daughters, between a generation of activists and their role models. ``Road to a Revolution,'' the new play by Mark Medoff premiering at Deaf West Theater in NoHo, is a bumpy ride. To a certain extent, it's supposed to be.

Medoff, who also directs the production, has driven this road before, most notably in his Tony Award-winning play (later a movie) ``Children of a Lesser God.'' It's no accident that Phyllis Frelich, for whom he wrote ``Children,'' is ``Road's'' stabilizing force. She's the bus driver, the character who spans different deaf perspectives, but who can benefit from wisdom herself.

Frelich is hardly alone on stage. Eight characters have stories to tell, points to make. That's quite a bit for a playwright and an audience to juggle, and ``Road to a Revolution'' doesn't have the breadth to accommodate all of them. The play occasionally feels messy and unwieldy, as though Medoff has thrown every point he had on stage in order to see what sticks. The work may find its route by the time it tours in early 2002. What's on stage now is compelling if unfocused.

Using the 1988 protest over the appointment of Elisabeth Ann Zinser as its backdrop, Medoff and associate director Robert Steinberg have crafted a story of three generations of women who don't share common ground. Edna Basker (Frelich) is cautious, an ``old school'' deaf person, afraid of making waves. Her hard-of-hearing daughter Gerri (Deanne Bray), who shares Edna's home, is a journalist who doesn't want preferential treatment and openly resents those who do. Gerri's 13-year-old daughter Tina (Samantha Schwartz), nursing bitterness over her parents' split and her mom's frequent inattentiveness, doesn't entirely understand either of the women in her life.

The Gallaudet developments bring every type of feeling out into the open. Spurred by an angry basketball coach (Jevon Whetter), New Mexico School for the Deaf sends an unofficial delegation to Gallaudet to join the revolution, and Edna is the only one insured to drive the bus. With Gerri taking a vacation, Edna takes Tina with her, along with Coach Hayes, one of his players (Alex Vasquez), the school's interpreter Carla (Jennifer Snipstad) and Nathaniel (C.J. Jones), an old friend of Edna's.

Meanwhile, Gerri, who initially turned down her editor's assignment to cover Gallaudet - making her a journalist with truly rotten instincts - changes her mind and hitches a ride on Edna's bus, her photographer and potential love interest Felix (Alejandro Furth) in tow. Five ``all purpose actors'' play various characters and newscasters as well as supplying the voices for nonspeaking roles.

Medoff makes very efficient use of what could have been an over- crowded stage. Once you get into the rhythm, there should be no difficulty figuring out who is speaking.

Figuring out where to place your loyalties, on the other hand, is a bit more challenging. Characters like Felix, Carla and even Nathaniel seem mouthpieces for some of the play's less subtle messages rather than fully realized individuals. When you've got a character reciting the pre-Agincourt speech from ``Henry V'' (``We band of brothers''), it's easy to feel emotionally bludgeoned.

When he gets back to the family's struggles, away from the issue-heavy rhetoric, Medoff finds his play's center. Quietly and unobtrusively, ``Revolution'' circles back to Edna, making us see why this is a character worth understanding. When this happens, Frelich, who can do more with her hands and face than most actors can with their entire package, takes over, and ``Road to a Revolution'' feels like it's headed somewhere after all.

``ROAD TO A REVOLUTION''

Where: Deaf West Theatre, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; through May 27.

Tickets: $15 to $20. Call [phone] or [phone].

Our rating: Three stars