THERE'S COMFORT IN TRADITIONAL RENDERING OF LINCOLN'S 'MEMOIRS'.

Byline: > Evan Henerson

"One of the minor disadvantages of being assassinated while in the office of president of the United States is that you don't get to tell your side of the story."

So relates Abraham Lincoln at the top of the solo show that carries his name. Given a couple of hours to set the record straight, Abe will be honest indeed. Bunions and constipation? Yes. Affair with Sally Rutledge? No. The Civil War? Don't get him started.

Or rather, do. Actor Granville Van Dusen has now been Abe-ing it for so many years in Peter King Beach's "The Memoirs of Abraham Lincoln" that the role fits him like, well, like a custom-tailored stovepipe hat. Remounted at the Falcon Theatre by Jenny Sullivan (from the original direction by the late Delbert Mann), "Memoirs" has its timeliness.

The play's real selling point, however, is its comfort factor. This is no radical or revisionist take on our 16th president (as was the case with, say, Center Theatre Group's "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson"). Nor is it brimming with insight.

Nope. This is merely a well-studied rendition of a plain-spoken and highly eloquent man, through his own words whenever possible. Van Dusen, all arms and legs with wild hair and storklike gait, certainly looks the part. If Lincoln was known primarily as a somber type, Van Dusen leans heavily on the man's twinkles of humor, his love for homespun parables.

He's especially concerned that we understand the man's feelings regarding slavery and the social and political equality of blacks. He'll return to this theme periodically as the evening develops, particularly when he gets into the Civil War. Yes, we hear the Gettysburg Address.

The words of Lincoln's detractors find their way into the "Memoirs" as well. Honest Abe usually admits the criticism or shrugs them off with a gangly and disarming smile.

Van Dusen and Sullivan have, perhaps unwisely, broken the 100-minute evening into two acts, which permitted a certain contingent to depart at intermission. Action packed, this show isn't. You're listening to an orator hold forth.

Political season or no, that's still pretty good entertainment.

THE MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - Three stars

>Where: Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank.

>When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday; through March 2.

>Tickets: $25 to $37.50.

>In a nutshell: With gangly charisma oozing out of every pore, Abe Lincoln is back to "set the record straight."

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An invigorating presidential campaign season gives a timely air to "The Memoirs of Abraham Lincoln" at the Falcon Theatre, with Granville Van Dusen as the 16th president.