Medoff's play, set in the late '60s, uses the drug-infested hippie movement - as epitomized by Teddy, a Charles Manson type guy - as a stepping stone to getting way under the skin of characters through fear, loathing and degradation. Gothic's "Red Ryder," which opened Friday(9/17/99), is a riveting two hours of compelling theater and Maupin, with considerable assists from an almost universally fine cast, makes it so.

Loud, obnoxious and deranged, Maupin's Teddy presses this oddly assorted group of folks who make their way into Clark's dusty New Mexico diner a broad daylight setting for terror. Maupin fits the look of a scroungy hippie perfectly. Straggly long hair, careless and dirty off-beat cloths, a look that in one instance comes off as more Marx Brothers than worrisome, turns in the chilling turn of a frighteningly turned screw into a personality thoroughly immersed in a menacing world of evil. Maupin's performance is shrewdly modulated and explosive.

Medoff parades his mix of characters past and through Maupin's Cuisinarts of diced tests with razor-sharp scrutiny. Nat Hogen is brash and feisty as Stephen "Red" Ryder, a barely beyond teenage misfit whose bravura turns to mush - and less - under the pressure of Teddy's brutal egging on. Marti Gerhardt is sweet, yet scarred by what life has dealt her. Plain, heavyset and without style, Gerhardt's Angel is beset by Teddy's meanness. Gerhardt's totally unaffected work makes the most of Angel's waitressing and over-the-counter sensitivity with the distorted crew of losers who've come her way.

Lyle, the crippled, elderly service station owner from next door, is convincingly played by Larry Quinn. There's not a moment when Quinn' s performance is anything less than real. Quinn is splendid. The husband and wife team of Richard and Clarisse, the more-or-less self imposed sophisticates of this piece, are played with suave assurance, then disintegration of disastrous proportions by Kenneth Ostrom and Terri Gray. Both are excellent in roles that could feign fright rather than succinctly register the reality of what's happening to them. Ostrom and Gray opt for reality.

In supporting roles, Hilary Upson's Cheryl - Teddy's reluctant moll, and Joseph Webb's Clark - the diner's owner, are adequate, and - in Upson's case - considerably more. Upson imbues Cheryl with the sadness of a youngster caught up in a world she doesn't understand who still clings to some nearly lost values of kindness and generosity. Upson manages those uncovered values and longings with remarkable understatement.

"When You Comin' Home, Red Ryder" is directed by Evan Gadda. Gadda has gotten to the core of what Medoff's play is about and he gets there with a surgeon's scapel-like precision. There are few sluggish moments in "Red Ryder," save a winding down after Teddy departs while characters struggle to regain what's left of their dignity. That coda on the play's events is a bit of an emotional let down, but only a minor distraction in the midst of so much that's brilliantly managed. Gadda has done that managing with distinction.

Edwin Gillweit's set design captures the diner look of the '60s with uncanny accuracy; just by the look of it you can smell the house's specialty, steak and eggs. Rick Patton's lighting is excellent. The costumes by FAB are just right. Gary Helmer's sound is cued without a misstep. Marti Gerhardt's scenic art adds immeasurably to the production's somewhere out New Mexico-way look. Julie Robertson is "Red Ryder's" producer. Robertson has an eye for detail that's makes this Gothic North season-opening show as penetrating as it can be.

When You Comin' Home, Red Ryder" sets a high mark for community theater that might just as well be set for a wholly professional troupe. Gothic North's "Red Ryder" is current, choice, powerful and shouldn't be missed. "When You Comin' Home, Red Ryder" plays Thursdays at 7, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2 through October 3, at the Gothic North Theater in the Viewcrest Center, 3697A Kings Row, Reno. For information call 775 329-7529. Or, visit the Gothic-North website today!.