‘RUPERT’S BIRTHDAY’

Another one-woman turn delivers another kind of achievement in a one-act called “Rupert’s Birthday” at the Gardner Stage. Actress Anita Jesse plays a Tennessee farm woman reliving an event from her youth (which will not be revealed here, but its simplicity and sentiment as opposed to sentimentality will tear you up).

Jesse’s performance--her country accent, her oak-hewn manner, her total identification with her character--is masterful. Jesse disguises any trace of acting. Major credit also goes to director/producer Paul Frederick, playwright Ken Jenkins, and the dreamy farmland set designed by Leonard Pollack. Not much more than 25 or so minutes, this is a special piece of work.

The curtain-raising one-act, “A Limb of Snow,” by Anna Marie Barlow, also features a strong actress, Eileen Seeley, whose Irish accent is superb.

Again, Frederick directed; he was also compelled in the production reviewed to step in as actor in the two-character play about a beleaguered couple facing a crisis in a snow-covered cabin in the High Sierra in the 1890s. Pollack’s set is fully textured, quite an achievement on the Gardner’s cramped stage.

Performances at 1501 Gardner St., West Hollywood, Fridays and Saturdays, through Feb. 21, 8 p.m.; (818) 506-5342.