Fifth of July, directed by Seth Panitch, was delivered by a talented and experienced cast who craftily portrayed a gauntlet of crazy characters; regretfully, how they all fit together was far from apparent in the first scene. This lack of initial context was highly aggravating.

      Here is the premise: Kenneth Talley Jr. falls in love and is rejected by his heterosexual best friend, John Landis. Then, for reasons he can no longer understand, Kenneth joins the army and goes to Vietnam where he gets his legs blown off. The play is set fifteen years later, yet Kenneth is remains just as lost and alienated as ever.

      Peachy, huh?

      Luckily, the play is also packed with humor. Hunter Cain, playing a rather minor role as Weston Hurley, a tripped-out back-up guitarist, steals the show and provides much needed comic relief to a script that can't help being a real downer. Weston's carefree character orbits outside of the primary conflict involving Gwen, John, June and Kenneth, and he interrupts their tense arguments to tell a story about flatulent Eskimos. Cain is amazingly entertaining; his comic timing is sharp, not to mention, he can actually play guitar and sing! His musical contributions to the beginning and end of the play really set the atmosphere and anchor the narrative into place within the hippy decade and provide a nice change of pace from a straight play.

      Many of the players were graduate students, or the like, and individually there were many notable performances good enough to stand on their own. And the characters tended to do just that, delivering their lines much like a series of monologues, instead of really listening and communicating with their fellow actors. This strange disconnect and stiffness between the characters may be the result of misdirection and inattention, or, more likely, a discomfort with the subject matter, which includes a lot of blatant sexual references, death, homosexuality, emasculation, betrayal and other sensitive topics.

      Some of the most convincing stage chemistry was between single mom June Talley, played by Meagan McNerney, and her daughter Shirley, played by Anastasia Munoz, who barked, scratched, hugged, glared, and still really captured the unique dynamic of the young mother- teenage daughter relationship. However once again, the women's camaraderie was not recognizable in the beginning, and efforts should be made to make that connection earlier in the script, prior to the exchange of dialogue.

      Overall this is a interesting play that attempts to convey the real life experiences of a man nearing middle age and still searching for his purpose in life. This story is told with a desire to be realistic and truthful, and in the process, the plot touches on many important but uncomfortable adult subjects. The play's greatest strength, however, is not as a drama, but as a comedy. The players repeatedly sent the audience into raucous rounds of laughter that held throughout the night, and those considering viewing the play can be assured such hysterics will be reoccurring throughout the rest of the week.