STAGE REVIEW : CHRIST ON TV IN ‘THE SECOND GOING’

Jerry Falwell, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Oral Roberts and Pat Robertson have gathered to consider action against a common foe: Jesus Christ.

That’s the setup in Dennis Connor’s satirical sketch, “The Second Going,” part of “Acts of Faith” at the McCadden Place Theatre.

Jesus has returned, in the flesh, and started his own “Jesus Christ Hour” on TV. It’s garnering a 63 share, perhaps because Jesus doesn’t ask for money. The televangelists feel threatened. They’ve even heard rumors about Jesus buying up land near Orlando.

The five of them summon Jesus (Bob Kent) to a powwow. He arrives in a spiffy suit with just a touch of flash (pale pink socks). No robes and rags for this Jesus; this is the 20th Century.

Jesus is personable, but he’s in no mood to negotiate. In fact, he has come to assign tasks and destinies to his antagonists. They’ll never be the same.

This is an audacious piece of writing, replete with punch lines that will tickle anyone who has grown tired of the holy wars of the past year and the general venality that so often rises to the surface of evangelical enterprises.

Connor occasionally sacrifices sense for the benefit of a joke; would the Jesus that Connor depicts really choose any of these people to do anything of importance? Nevertheless, the jokes are so funny, given the context of current events, that such lapses are easy to forgive and forget.

The performances vary substantially in their resemblance to the real-life prototypes. Joy Ellison’s Tammy comes closest, but Vince McKewin would never be mistaken for Jerry Falwell. Still, the line delivery is so adroit that impersonation skills don’t matter much.

The comedy cools down for the second half of the bill, “The Irish Hebrew Lesson” by Wolf Mankowitz. Studying his Irish lessons late one night in 1921 at his home and tiny synagogue in County Cork, an aging peddler (Bob Larkin) plays host to an IRA fugitive (John Dragon) with a gun.

What happens isn’t surprising, but it is an affecting illustration of human fellowship. The performances are real and vibrant.

Sandra Fleck directed this fascinating double bill, which lasts little more than an hour.

Performances are at 1157 N. McCadden Pl a ce, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m., through Nov. 15. Tickets: $10; (213) 661-0825.