SOME TALENTED ACTORS BREAK THROUGH PRODUCTION'S FLAWS.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

The insert-a-celebrity genre has a new entry, a stage adaptation of Andrew Carroll's ``War Letters,'' co produced by Susan Dietz and the theatrical wing of Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. And, no, this event - which opened an indefinite run over the weekend at the Canon Theatre - is not the result of male celebs demanding a quid pro quo after being shut out of ``The Vagina Monologues.''

Rather, ``War Letters,'' as conceived and directed by Sundance's Philip Himberg, is a selection of actual combat correspondence read by two guest performers and a three-person ensemble. These are letters from soldiers and civilians, parents, children, even Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf. Given our country's campaign in Afghanistan, the timing for this piece couldn't be better. Its execution, on the other hand, most certainly could be.

The letters, which span American campaigns from the Civil War to Desert Storm, are actual correspondence, unedited, culled from the more than 60,000 letters that compose the Legacy Project. What we hear recited at the Canon feels authentic despite the more than occasional tendency of the performers to ``act'' it out.

Which figures. When you have a letter from Julia Child - writing about the Red Scare during Korea - it has to be more tempting than a slice of cheesecake to slather on the dithering accent. Actress Nichole Pelerine uses the accent. Yes, she gets a laugh, and she dilutes whatever poignancy Child's letter might otherwise contain.

Treat Williams, who opens the ``War Letters'' run with Mario Van Peebles, fares better with the humorous content of his letters. A skilled hand at the monologue game, Williams easily zeros in on the emotional or humorous center of his selections. Van Peebles smoothly tackles many of the weightier selections, especially those that focus on discrimination or slavery. (Both performers will stay with the production through Sunday before a new duo takes over.)

Granted, these letters are miniature stories. Their authors have taken pen in hand to celebrate, complain, confess, recount and bid farewell. An occasional reference to venereal disease notwithstanding, the selections are remarkably raunch free. Nor is there much talk of gore. These letters were not written to be read aloud or even necessarily to be shared, and that intimacy is part of their power.

Unfortunately, that power often feels diluted by the production's forced staginess, as though Himberg were unwilling to let the letters speak for themselves. Between Geoff Korf's lighting, Mark O'Brien's sound effects and the moody scene-establishing projections by John H. Binkley, ``War Letters'' feels caught uncomfortably between a monologue show and a fully staged event - and not always to the production's benefit.

Himberg's choice of which letters to include is intriguing. Several deal with prejudice, several more with patriotism. There's considerable power behind Major Thomas O'Sullivan sending his son an American flag from Bosnia since he can't be present on the child's seventh birthday. Pelerine and Tony Abatemarco share a touching sequence between the author of a ``Dear John'' letter and its recipient.

The letters are read in campaign chronological order, with an e-mail written in the early hours of Sept. 11 closing the 90-minute evening. Himberg elects to cross cut the reading of the 9/11 e-mail with lines from the early part of the evening. So as New Yorker Brian O'Neill describes smoke and bodies flying out of windows, we hear echoes of Union Soldier Charles George exalting in the surrender of General Robert E. Lee. ``Hallelujah, there will be no more war,'' George exults.

Irony detected, thank you. How could it not be?

WAR LETTERS Two and one half stars

Where: Canon Theatre, 205 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. Saturday, 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday; indefinitely.

Tickets: $25 to $50. Call [phone].

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Mario Van Peebles, left, and Treat Williams provide the firepower during ``War Letters,'' now at the Canon Theatre.