Vinnie is the story of Vincent Van Gogh (played by Glen Anthony Vaughan), who appears to modern-day struggling artist David Woodsey (Herbert Russell) during a night of despondency and heavy drinking. During their night of carousing, David laments about his failures as an artist and Vinnie commiserates and comforts his colleague, while discovering all that he had missed in the 110 years since his death, including, to his shock and horror, the prices his paintings are currently fetching at auction. It is an enjoyable, amusing and well-acted two-man, one-act play.

Unfortunately, it is presented as a two-act full production which quickly devolves into amateur hour, with one awful supporting performance after another. In fact, besides Vaughan and arguably Russell, the only two performances which didn’t make me want to follow Vinnie’s lead and cut my own ears off were Emma Ford as David’s girlfriend and young Mercedes Beth Williams as a pediatric cancer patient whom David befriends. Coincidentally, these are the only two roles which the plot requires. Had the production limited itself to those four characters, the play may have had some potential.

Instead, it features a chorus line of unnecessary, ill-defined, one-dimensional and dreadfully portrayed side characters who do nothing to advance to the story. Especially disruptive is the character of the Workman (portrayed by Justin Bowles) who, I’m assuming, is supposed to serve the same function as the stage manager in Our Town . It doesn’t. He introduces scenes like a ring-girl between rounds at a boxing match carrying cheesy, redundant signs, and periodically comes on stage in the middle of scenes for no particular reason, such when he inexplicably brings in a dishpan full of dry ice (apparently to demonstrate that he knows how to make theater smoke), doing nothing but disrupting focus from the action going on elsewhere. The character’s cheesy denouement in the final scene only serves to underscore what might have been if handled correctly.

The set and props look like they are about to fall apart at any moment. The scene changes are clumsy and there is so much movement going on behind the scenes and to the sides that it is hard to even follow the action.

The only positive to recommend this play is the performance of Vaughan in the title role. Although I’m not sure the Dutch master would be speaking English with a French accent, Vaughan still manages to capture the man’s passion, irreverence, and volatility. He even bears a striking physical resemblance, at least as far as we can tell from the artist’s myriad self-portraits. In my last review, I spotlighted two standout performances currently going on in Los Angeles small theater right now. Here, Vaughan stands out for merely being good in a sea of uncountable lousy ones.

Vinnie is playing at the Pan-Andreas Theater Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 and 7 pm through November 7, 2009. The Pan-Andreas Theater is located at 5125 Melrose Ave. in Hollywood between Wiltern and Western, behind the Pan Andreas restaurant.

Ticket are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

Reservations online at http://vinnie.eventbrite.com .