The Gaslight Theater in Hallowell is currently presenting its penultimate production of the season, a southern-fried, theatrical analog of a chick flick titled "Crimes of the Heart."

The script was written by Mississippi-born playwright Beth Henley, and it earned her a number of accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1981.

The stage version was converted to the big screen in 1986. Starring Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek, it garnered three Academy Award nominations, so it is a work with considerable critical cred under its belt.

Billed as "a southern tragic comedy," the tale revolves around an eventful day in 1974 in the eccentric lives of the three Magrath sisters of Hazlehurst, Mississippi: Lenny (Amelia Brackett), the underappreciated, unmarried eldest; Meg (Stacy Laflin), the wild one with a past and no future; and Babe (Shawna Houston), the slightly loopy youngest, who is at the center of the day's events because she has just shot her husband.

Seems she was aiming at his heart, and managed only to plug him in the stomach.

The cast is fleshed out by an insufferably catty cousin (Thalia Ravlin), Babe's dedicated and smitten lawyer (Steffan Ganske), and one of Meg's former love interests (Tim Knowlton).

It is definitely a character-driven, rather than plot-driven, story. So be prepared for the dramatic layers to unfold slowly, in a series of small revelations. Accordingly, the success of the play depends vitally on the strength of its actors to create believable, individual and sympathetic personae.

There is such shifting dynamic tension among the three sisters, especially, that a flaw in any one of the three would throw sand into the gears and grind the dramatic action to an uncomfortable halt.

Fortunately for Gaslight's production, the three leads, under the direction of Ellen Clair Lamb, turn in performances that are individually credible and collectively cohesive, so the mood shifts flow smoothly and often very powerfully.

Brackett, Laflin and Houston's characters display a wide range of emotional dimension over the single day of stage-time they occupy. From playful to desperate, from vulnerable to triumphant, from innocent to cynical and various combinations thereof, all three of these well-cast actors play off each other like a nicely tuned unit and power the engine that drives what energy the script contains.

The lanky and attractive Laflin has an especially demanding role as the family black sheep. The program notes mention she has not been onstage for seven years, but her performance in "Crimes" leads one to conclude that acting must be like the old riding-a-bicycle thing.

The supporting cast is also solid, especially Ravlin, as the southern belle who drips honey and venom from her lips with equal aplomb. And Ganske's lawyer is officious when he needs to be and human when he wants to be. With the possible exception of Houston's Babe, all of the actors are well practiced in their Southern accents, which is essential to the credibility of the play.

Brackett hails from Texas, but as anyone down there will tell you, Texas southern is not the same as Mississippi southern.

Earlier, I characterized this production as the theatrical equivalent of a chick flick, and ultimately I suspect that your opinion of the script will be directly related to the level of estrogen you carry around in your body.

There is a lot of open and honest communication about relationships in this play. Just the very thing that makes guy types instinctively reach for the remote, only to panic when you remember that you are in a theater, and there is no remote.

I mentioned the script is touted as a tragic comedy, but it is neither moving enough for a true tragedy nor funny enough for a true comedy.

This is not to fault the director nor the actors, but rather the material with which they were provided.

Intended, probably, as a fearless probe into the complexities of human feelings, it came across to me at least as a fruitless peek at the state of the neighbors' laundry.

The production is superior in a number of aspects, but I left the hall with the feeling that like Babe, one of its heroines, the script itself aimed at the heart and missed.

The Gaslight Theater is located inside Hallowell City Hall at 1 Winthrop St. Evening performances August 23, 24, and 25. Tickets $10, cash or check, at the door. 626-3698

Ken Ganza is an actor and writer. He lives in Waterville.