NEW REVIEW TEA AT FIVE

By Neal Weaver

                                                                Matthew Lombardo's solo-drama about Katharine                                                                   Hepburn (Cissy Conner), set in her home in

                                                                Fenwick, Connecticut, examines her life and loves                                                                   from two different points of view.  In Act 1, set in                                                                   1938, she's still reeling from a series of film flops,                                                                   and the fact that movie exhibitors have branded                                                                       her as box office poison. Act 2 takes place in

                                                                1983, at the end of her career, when Warren                                                                           Beatty was attempting to persuade her to take on                                                                   her last movie role, and deals with her declining health, the shocking suicide of her brother, and her relations with Spencer Tracy. The piece is largely a compendium of familiar Hepburn stories, but Lombardo tells them well, and he captures the familiar style and accents of her public persona: cheerfully egocentric and monumentally eccentric, alternating earthy common-sense with movie-star flamboyance. Conner doesn't resemble Hepburn physically, but she deftly captures her flavor, particularly as the aging Kate in Act 2, complete with the throaty, slightly strangled voice. It's an engaging and skillful performance, which plays on our affection and familiarity with the original. Set designer Scott Umfress was clearly working under financial limitations, but his minimalist set is evocative if not always historically on the mark. Whitmore Lindley Theater, 11006 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 5 p.m., through May 2. (800) 838-3006 or http://www.tea-at-five.com (Neal Weaver) Photo by Ed Krieger