Centre Stage's 'Guided Tour' is one tour you must take By Ann Hicks ARTS WRITER ahicks@greenvillenews.com Published: Friday, June 8, 2007 - 2:00 am in The Greenville News "Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up." That James Baldwin quote pierces the heart of Peter Snoad's drama "Guided Tour" that opened at Centre Stage -- South Carolina on Thursday night. This is a beautifully crafted work, full of well-tuned phrases, intelligent language and carefully nourished words, each polished to perfection by a quartet of wonderful actors. "Guided Tour" was the winner of Centre Stage's 2006 New Play Festival, meaning it would be given a full production. And what a production this turned out to be. At the helm is Peter Jayce, a highly regarded actor/director who proves his worth by loosening the reins to allow his actors to be wholly possessed by their characters. Possessed is the perfect word to describe Clark Nesbitt's performance as Joe Bell, the dapper, ebullient tour guide of Elmwood, a Gilded Age mansion. Nesbitt is without a doubt one of the most talented actors to appear on any stage. He disappears in front of our eyes as soon as he opens his mouth to let Bell loose upon the audience. The transformation is mesmerizing. We first meet him conducting one of his many popular tours. He emphatically telegraphs the charmed life its rich inhabitants and their guests enjoyed once upon a time. He's full of bonhomie and cracks you up as he describes the cornucopia of ostentation as "the biggest hot fudge sundae you're ever had." Soon, though, we see him again at the penitentiary, where he's locked up, most likely for the rest of his life, for burning down that hot fudge sundae mansion. Why he did it is the question young Susan Hatch wants to explore on a visit with Bell. The crafty guide takes her on a mental trip paved with Baldwin quotes -- "Be careful what you set your heart upon -- for it will surely be yours" -- and bombards her with assorted samples of his purposeful madness. Tiffany Nave, one of Greenville's best young actors, is an excellent partner to Nesbitt. She goes toe-to-toe with him as the naive young Hatch hell-bent upon discovering what makes old Joe tick, even if it means devastating him. Their tour de force scene at the end of Act 1 is astonishing. Victoria Chance is a lovely Lindsey Pettigrew. She is every inch the woman born to the manor in love with the wrong man for all the right reasons. She's white, and Bell is black. She holds a single red rose above her heart, and he pours his heart into the African mask he hand-carves for her. Connie Lanzl as Martha McNab, the prison psychiatrist, exudes seasoned confidence. She's the shrink we want across from the obligatory couch. Guy Perticone, Connie Clark, Jeff Russell and Ben Robinson greatly contribute to the fine production values. "Guided Tour" is a finely chiseled psychodrama well worth theater lovers' support. Don't miss it. I plan to go back and see it at least once more. The play continues through June 16. For tickets, call 233-6733 .