REVIEW on the "ASIAN SHDE" ----------------------------- THEATER: 'ASIAN SHADE,' TWO SOLDIERS ON LEAVE By MEL GUSSOW Published: May 20, 1983, Friday TWO young men, buddies in a small Southern community, are home on leave before being shipped to Vietnam, and they are eagerly trying to have a high-spirited holiday. The situation is familiar, but the play, Larry Ketron's ''Asian Shade'' (at the WPA Theater), has the buoyancy of youth, and the actors - most of them new faces - inhabit the landscape as if they are natives. Mr. Ketron is a most prolific playwright, with a play a year since 1976. He has always had a homespun humor and a gift for local color, but more and more he has learned to relax and to allow his characters to develop organically. In this play, he has also jettisoned his archenemy, whimsy. Before they know it, five days of leave have evaporated for the green recruits, played by Lenny Von Dohlen and Mark Benninghofen. Under Dann Florek's astute direction, the play speeds by just as quickly for the audience, leaving a trail of warmth and memory. The two youths are a mass of pos@tadolescent contradictions. They are torn between to-hell-and-back patriotism and boyish hedonism, proud of being ''in the military,'' angry at local 4Fs but embarrassed to be seen in town wearing crewcuts. Borrowing a bungalow from a genial farmer (Tom Brennan), they set up bachelor housekeeping, hiding out, almost as if they are convicts on a brief reprieve. Each has a fondness for his family combined with a reluctance to spend any more time than necessary in their company. Mr. Benninghofen is especially self-conscious at the way his parents stare into his eyes, as if trying to remember what he looks like. Neither he nor his friend wants to be pinned down to anything. With near desperation, they simply want to have a good time, as represented by two tempting local girls, Marissa Chibas and the flightier Dianne Neil. The four swim, dance, kid around and, as expected, one relationship begins to be serious. Shadowing the couple is the imminent overseas shipment. The author avoids the pitfalls of sentimentality and overstatement. Until a second-act showdown, a well-motivated outburst of temperament, everything remains easygoing. Both play and characters follow a natural course. Occasionally a line seems dislocated in time, with a code of morality that is more redolent of the 1950's than the 60's. But the writing retains its freshness. For one thing, Mr. Ketron has a nice way of using a cliche for comic purpose, as when Mr. Benninghofen hints at a change in their military assignment: ''Certain moves are being made on the old checkerboard of life.'' In ''Asian Shade,'' everyone, including the playwright, plays the game as if for the first time. The relationship between the two boys is particularly wellobserved. While Mr. Von Dohlen combines impetuosity with sensitivity, the more knowing Mr. Benninghofen is an opportunist. At the same time, the two girls carefully measure reputation against desire. All four actors are charming, as is J. Smith-Cameron as another young woman, who arrives at the end of the evening for a wistful postscript. ''Asian Shade'' is more a cameo than a full-scale canvas, but it was conceived with honesty and it is performed with authenticity. Charming Cameo ASIAN SHADE, by Larry Ketron; directed by Dann Florek; setting by Ross A. Wilmeth; lighting by Phil Monat; costumes by Don Newcomb; incidental music by Denny McCormick. Pre- sented by W P A Theater, Kyle Renick, artistic director. At 138 Fifth Avenue. Ernie...............................Mark Benninghofen Tom..................................Lenny Von Dohlen Neal ......................................Tom Brennan Casey ..................................Marissa Chibas Jean......................................Dianne Neil Kaylene ..............................J. Smith-Cameron BACK