A Fumbled Attempt to Offer ‘Solace’

Jake Jay Clark’s “Solace” at the Hudson is a talky, puerile play in which thumbnail-deep characters are defined almost entirely by the situation.

The recently widowed Matt (Tim Pickering) has been dulling his grief through bouts of binge drinking, much to the distress of his sister Chris (Josie DiVincenzo). When the drunken Matt blunders into a gay bar, he’s rescued by Gary (Brian Drillinger), who gives Matt a safe (and platonic) berth for the night. The next morning, however, when Matt and Gary exchange insults about each other’s sexual orientations, the men part in mutual disdain.

But, by creaky coincidence, Gary turns out to be Chris’ best friend. After much kvetching and exhorting, Chris convinces Gary, himself no stranger to loss, to act as Matt’s surrogate grief counselor. Needless to say, the decidedly straight Matt ultimately finds a true friend in his homosexual confidant.

Unfortunately, Clark fails to weave in the small, specific details that make his otherwise stereotypical characters more credible, and Deborah Barylski’s stilted staging doesn’t help matters. When these folks aren’t spouting psychobabble at one another, they lapse into an inexplicably sophomoric petulance, bickering brattishly among themselves. Matt’s final monologue, a reminiscence about his marriage, is one of the few sincerely moving moments in this well-meaning but sadly strained evening.

*

* “Solace,” Hudson Backstage, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m. Ends Aug. 30. $15. (323) 660-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.