DAILY NEWS

Theater Review

Fugard's fine tale of 2 actors takes center stage in 'Exits'

BY JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ
DAILY NEWS THEATER CRITIC

Posted Friday, April 6th 2007, 4:00 AM


Morlan Higgins (r., with William Dennis Hurley) gives a sublime performance as washed-up actor Andre Huguenet in Athol Fugard's 'Exits and Entrances.'


"Exits and Entrances"

Through April 29 at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St. Tickets: $60. (212) 840-9705

There's no place like home. But what if you're the doughy, closeted, washed-up, middle-aged actor Andre Huguenet, once the Olivier of South Africa, whose only home is on stage? How do you keep your dignity? How do you live when you're obsolete?

Those are painful questions that surface in Athol Fugard's small but compelling "Exits and Entrances," an autobiographical one-act about an aspiring writer (unnamed, but clearly Fugard) and his relationship with Huguenet.

Book-ended by scenes set in 1961, the year South Africa became a republic and Huguenet died, the bulk of the story takes place five years earlier. That's when the playwright acted in a Cape Town production of "Oedipus Rex" starring Huguenet. The two men shared a dressing room, a setting in which the fading star's undiminished devotion to theater changed the young man's life.

Director Stephen Sachs' assured production boasts a sublime performance by Morlan Higgins, who portrays the blustery but insecure Huguenet without even a microscopic trace of vanity. William Dennis Hurley has the less showy role, but he springs to life late in the story, when the playwright rigorously challenges the actor's views.

Charlie Corcoran's tidy set depicts a dressing room with just a table, wardrobe rack and a couple of chairs. Brian Nason's lighting deftly changes color and intensity as the action shifts from the men talking to scenes from "Oedipus" and, later, "The Prisoner," about a strong man who is methodically destroyed.

Fugard is an acclaimed South African writer whose plays include "Master Harold ... and the Boys." In a Playbill note, he calls "Exits and Entrances" a "thank you" to the theater and his early mentor. His gratitude is well-expressed.