It's a welcome return "home" for SATCo principals Godfrey Hamilton and Mark Pinkosh (SATCo was founded here by Pinkosh in 1983; he and Hamilton are now based in Los Angeles). "Viper's Opium," written by Hamilton, will delight their large following here.

The action takes place on the bare set of MVT's just-closed production of "Tommy." The story unfolds in bits and pieces. Curtis (Pinkosh) finds a friend in Cricket (Kathryn Howden). She gives him something dry to wear when he emerges mysteriously from the ocean, and later invites him home with her after they meet again in the diner where she works.

He's an articulate HIV-positive film fan with great dreams of writing a semi-autobiographical screenplay about the experiences of a rootless gay alcoholic drug addict. She's a frequently fired minimum-wage rebel who finds purpose by providing sanctuary to losers and outcasts. He's badly scarred by life. So is she.

They gingerly bond, make love, er, well, have sex, recoil from each other and try to make sense of their feelings for each other. The initial impression is that the story takes longer to tell than necessary. However, "Viper's Opium" - also the title of Curtis' unwritten screenplay - is at least as much about character portrayal as it is about romantic narrative or lineal action. Playwright Hamilton offers SATCo fans two quirky characters, and spices his thick slice-of-modern-life with a considerable amount of humor and subtle detail.

For instance, a scene involving male frontal nudity will likely seem gratuitous while it's happening. A scrap of dialogue later places Pinkosh's nudity in another perspective (In contrast, the duo's sexual interlude is choreographed fully clothed).

Hamilton also proves a witty master of pithy dialogue and one-line zingers. There is tart advice for women on how to recognize a "gay boy," bitchy put-downs ("A guy that gives queers a bad name"), and a brief, sharp debate on whether homosexuals are more knowledgeable than heterosexuals about making love to a member of their sex. Bisexual Cricket's sardonic, "A man can't find his way around a woman with a Sherpa, a map and a flashlight," evidently reflected the sentiments of many women in the audience.

Hard-core SATCo fans will find Pinkosh up to all his familiar dramatic tricks as he creates yet another engaging, comic yet poignant gay character. Howden is thoroughly convincing as his red neck angel of mercy.

Simple but effective use of colors and costuming adds visual cues to the status of the relationship. Douglas Kuhrt's lighting plot (executed here by MVT's Jo Scheder) completes the picture.

Hamilton and Pinkosh have eloquently addressed the human and social costs of homophobia and AIDS in previous productions such as "Holding Back the Ocean" and "Road Movie." They explore other aspects of the contemporary American experience in "Viper's Opium."

What: "Viper's Opium," presented by the Starving Artists Theatre Company
When: 8 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday
Where: Manoa Valley Theatre
Tickets: $14 ($12 for MVT season subscribers, students military and seniors)
Call: 988-6131