By John Horan Jr. — Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — Some plays come with cautions about raunchy language, nudity or special effects, but "Moonlight and Magnolias," Wayside Theatre's feisty new comedy, may be the first to bear an allergy alert.

People allergic to peanuts or bananas, take note, a sign on the theater door warns.

The import of the curious admonition is soon apparent, for Ron Hutchinson's conceit about the birth of the movie "Gone With the Wind" in 1939 contains a furious, all-out food fight, which, given the intimate confines of the Fred Glaize Studio Theatre, puts even allergy-free patrons at some risk of being plunked by an errant comestible.

The combatants are the producer, director and ghostwriter of "Gone With the Wind," holed up in a room for five days — with nothing to eat but peanuts and bananas — in a feverish attempt to craft a workable script for the movie, which is plagued by production problems.

Hutchinson's scenario has a basis in fact — David O. Selznick, the movie's producer, pulled director Victor Fleming off "The Wizard of Oz" and prevailed upon the writer Ben Hecht, who hadn't read Margaret Mitchell's novel, to fashion a new script in a week — and he lards the script with prewar Hollywood tidbits.

Although the playwright captures the tension and frustration of the creative process, "Moonlight and Magnolias" is comedy on steroids. Director Warner Crocker has the cast operating at peak intensity. The pace is frenetic, the comedy broad and zany but the characters mostly one-dimensional.

This Selznick, energetically portrayed by Christopher Michael Todd, is a brassy Hollywood mogul, manipulative and determined to get his way. As Fleming, Peter Boyer clings to his dignity, except when he's acting out scenes from the novel, including childbirth. R. Chris Reeder's Hecht is a reserved enigma, passionate only about liberal politics and anti-Semitism, sermonizing that dampens the levity.

With the audience on three sides of the stage, set designer Til Turner supplies a handsome backdrop with two doors, one of which provides continual access for Leah Raulerson, Selznick's increasingly frazzled secretary.

Tamara M. Carruthers' costumes are stylish and Paul M. Callahan's lighting apt. Sound designer Steve Przybylksi augments the Hollywood aura with a blend of movie themes.

"Moonlight and Magnolias" probably should also carry a warning for neat freaks, who are likely to be aghast at the food and reams of paper that proudly litter the floor through most of the play. Slobs won't mind a bit.

* Contact John Horan at jhoran@nvdaily.com