THIEF RIVER

Signature Theatre, 555 West 42 Street. Call (212) 244-7529.

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PLAYS that don’t work can sometimes feel like the wrong thing in the wrong shape at the wrong time. Lee Blessing’s “Thief River” resembles an old-fashioned gay novel.

There are a pair of teenage lovers, Gil and Ray. Gil is an intense, emotional, unashamed rebel. Ray is the conformist heir of a powerful, land-owning family.

It’s the Midwest in 1948, in an abandoned, leaf-strewn farmhouse belonging to Ray’s family. Gil gets in trouble (for shooting a local gay-basher) and wants to split for the city and freedom; Ray feels an attachment to, a duty to, the family place. We have the classic breakup of a couple who want different things from life. Plus, there’s an ugly confrontation (it ends in murder) between the boys and a mean, homophobic bum.

But this gothic tale is interspersed with moments when the grown-up young men – at two later stages – look back at their past and enact later dramas. So it becomes a play of memory, to some extent.

These blended time travels provide much of the interest of the play. But finally, even they do not tell us much; they do not illuminate. For the story is not particularly credible, as presented here.

That said, it’s well-performed. But it finally feels like a dated novel, a plea for a love that can survive the ups and downs of life. It’s an urgent plea for a case that’s long been won.