THEATER REVIEW : Family Values Kindle Old-Fashioned ‘Homecoming’

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — “The Homecoming,” by Earl Hamner Jr., is a sweet, heartwarming affair about a large, poor but loving Virginia family--in short, light-years from Harold Pinter’s dark and dangerous play of the same name now playing in Los Angeles.

Hamner’s work inspired the 1972-1981 television series “The Waltons.” The South Orange County Community Theatre’s spirited production, which runs through Sunday at the Camino Real Playhouse, is a reminder of why that series worked so well. Hamner’s graceful writing may be sentimental, but it is also wry, perceptive and uplifting.

“The Homecoming” is a memory play narrated by Clay-Boy Spencer (John-Boy Walton in the TV series), the eldest of the eight children of Clay and Olivia. The play opens on a Christmas Eve in the Great Depression, with Olivia worried about Clay getting home in time.

A blizzard rages outside, while inside the cupboard is bare, and the family has just $2 for food. It is beginning to look as if this will be the Spencers’ first Christmas without Father, food or presents from Santa--which would abruptly smash the youngest children’s belief in the magic of the holiday.

Clay-Boy, who has been trying to tell his practical father that he wants to be a writer, sets out in search of Clay, learning things about his father that surprise him.

Director B.J. Scott keeps her 22-person cast moving fluidly on the long but shallow stage--no small task. It’s an unpretentious production with uneven acting. But the show works as a whole, and the children are adorable--including a young violinist and a flutist who entertain at intermission.

The key work is done by Barbara Hollis, whose strong-but-worried Olivia sets the tone for the dignity the family maintains in the midst of want. Tom Scott is refreshingly earthy as Clay, who appears through a wall panel in memories of real and imagined conversations with Steve Paxman’s sensitive Clay-Boy.

The show stealers are the rich character parts. As the simple-minded Birdshot, Andrew Stein infuses every scene with melancholy sweetness. The funniest bits belong to Susan Chapman and Jackie Griffin as the elderly bootleggers, Emma and Etta Staples. They bicker and chatter while slipping more and more into Clay-Boy’s eggnog. They are a hoot.

Scott’s set serves the play well, using the length of the stage wall to establish the Spencers’ simple home, the chilly outdoors, a pool hall and the Staples’ prissy parlor.

When velvety-voiced Joe La Masa, as the Rev. Dooly, leads them in hymn-singing as if they were his congregation, he gets the place singing, just as the show gets the audience smiling.

* “The Homecoming,” Camino Real Playhouse, 31776 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Sunday. $10, or $25 for family. (714) 489-8082. Running time: 1 hour, 18 minutes.

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Steve Paxman: Clay-Boy

Barbara Hollis: Olivia Spencer

Tom Scott: Clay Spencer

Kevin Page: Matt

Erin Scabareti: Becky

Hayden Fitzgerald: Mark

Brianne Smith: Shirley

Bradley Mielke: Luke

Caitlin Page: Julie

Alexis Mielke: Pattie Cake

Brian Page: Grandpa Homer

Jeanne Hardwegg: Grandma Ida

Andrew Stein: Birdshot

Mary Helen Turner: City Lady

Tom Scabareti: Charlie Sneed

James Cline: Sheriff

Bruce Alexander: Ike Godsey

Joe La Masa: The Rev. Dooly

Michael LaMasa: Young Joseph

Megan Platta: Young Mary

Susan Chapman: Miss Emma Staples

Jackie Griffin: Miss Etta Staples

A South Orange County Community Theatre production of a play by Earl Hamner Jr., directed by B.J. Scott. Set design and stage manager: B.J. Scott. Lights and sound: Phil Blandin. Costumes: Janet Scabareti.