Quirky ‘Traces’ Blossoms in Romantic Sign

Talk about getting cold feet: Here’s a bride who walks out on her wedding and drives all the way from sunny Arizona into an Alaskan snowstorm. The question is why--and while an answer of sorts is eventually forthcoming in “Brilliant Traces” at Deaf West Theatre, playwright Cindy Lou Johnson takes a sparing approach to doling out explanations for quirky behavior.

Quirkiness itself is the primary focus in this two-character seriocomic romance between the aforementioned AWOL bride (Jackie Roth) and the neurotic recluse (Anthony Natale) in whose home she seeks shelter from a severe whiteout. A large chunk of their accidental encounter is spent in artful deflection from real communication--sometimes to the point of strained credibility. It’s an unnaturally long time before they even get around to revealing their names, for example.

Natale and Roth play out their blossoming trust in sign, a language that brings feelings closer to the surface than speech; their fluid gestures are particularly eloquent in the touching emotional finale. Director Phyllis Frelich’s use of onstage actors (Samuel Toffler and Sharon Rosner) to supply the voices makes the flow of Johnson’s delicate dialogue choppy at times--not as well-suited to the material as other techniques employed by the company in past productions (such as audio headsets or actors who speak and sign for themselves).

While eccentricity is never in short supply with these characters, the threads that link them to the broader span of humanity aren’t always filled in, which keeps them marginalized and less sympathetic than they might be.

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* “Brilliant Traces,” Deaf West Theatre, 660 N. Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles. Thursdays, Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends March 15. $15-$20. (213) 660-4673. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.