STAGE REVIEWS : ‘PLAY ON’ STRANGLES TOO MANY GAGS

The Huntington Beach Playhouse has taken “Play On,” a cliched comedy about the trials of putting on a show, and stretched every amusing turn to the breaking point in a search for laughs.

The farce by Rick Abbot (a pseudonym for prolific Orange County writer Jack Sharkey) follows an inexperienced troupe as it tries to fine-tune “Murder Most Foul,” an unfathomable British drawing room mystery, as opening night approaches. The rehearsal is an irrevocable mess: actors botch lines and quarrel incessantly, the daffy playwright changes scenes and dialogue as often as her hats and the director howls about the hopelessness of it all. Opening night does not go smoothly.

There’s been a rash of play-within-a-play productions in Orange County recently--”Jitters” at the South Coast Repertory Theatre and “Noises Off” at Laguna Moulton Playhouse--and “Play On” does little to encourage more efforts in this genre. In abler hands, it might offer some sly, even charming insights into the terror and joy of bringing drama to the stage. But this version is more interested in easy gags, and director Howard Solomon’s approach is as broad as a clown’s painted grin. Sure, “Play On” isn’t meant to be sophisticated, but the insistent gag-peddling gets a little wearying.

The first two acts suffer the most. Both take place during rehearsal where pressures build and “Murder Most Foul” staggers toward disaster. Every forgotten line, mistaken entrance and miscued sound effect is milked. The play does pick up some in the final act as “Murder Most Foul” is finally presented to its audience. There are some genuinely comic moments in these last scenes as the mystery, not surprisingly, goes awry.

Beside more restrained direction, “Play On” needs a central character to anchor it. This obligation naturally belongs to Olive Harris as “Murder Most Foul’s” director, but her portrayal is too shrill to be commanding. The other actors do a serviceable job with Abbot’s sketchy characters but often hurtle through their scenes as if worried someone will step on the punch lines.

There are a few nice moments, though. Joanne Underwood’s playwright is delightfully addled as she creates turmoil on the set, and Bill Shope’s Henry Benish uses a curdling accent and ridiculously pompous bearing for the Lord Dudley role. As Benish’s actress wife, Jo Scott displays a growing frustration with her colleagues and the forbidding chore before them. Her mystery character, Lady Margaret, is alternately imposing and frumpy.

They all blunder about on Mary Solomon’s set, which correctly evokes the parlor in an English manor down to the musty bookcase and crystal decanters.

“Play On” will run through July 12 at the Huntington Beach Playhouse in Seacliff Village near Golden West Street and Yorktown Avenue. For information, call (714) 832-1405.