STAGE REVIEW : Tennessee Williams’ Stab at Comedy Just Scratches

Tennessee Williams was usually smart enough to avoid comedy. The great Southern playwright knew he was most forceful in unalloyed dramas full of desperate people caught in sad worlds. Although some of his plays have a light comic shade--the swaggering characters of “Sweet Bird of Youth” and even “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” come to mind--big laughs didn’t find much room in his repertoire.

Williams did crank out at least one comedy, though. “Period of Adjustment” is a trifling romantic piece from 1960 that owes more to Neil Simon than to the writer who created such layered classics as “The Glass Menagerie” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

“Period of Adjustment,” in production at the Irvine Community Theater, is not much of a play or even, for that matter, much of a comedy. There are a few redeeming Williams’ touches--the roles have peculiarly Southern gothic streaks, and the language occasionally has vigor--but all in all, it is more a curiosity than anything else.

It is Christmas Eve in the modest suburban home of Ralph and Dorthea Bates, but all is not well. Dorthea (Barbara Kerek) has walked out on war hero Ralph (Patrick Sullivan) because he has walked out on his boring job. Ralph, pretty much the likable sad sack, isn’t going to get too shook up over it. He wasn’t too thrilled with the homely Dorthea anyway, so his plan is to sell the valuables and catch the first morning plane to Hong Kong.

His strategy takes a detour, though, when George (Mark Satin) and Isabel (Kellie Smith) turn up. They are newlyweds, see, who are having trouble going through a “period of adjustment” from the single life. Maybe Ralph, who flew bombing missions with George in Korea, can help out. Their problems are pretty big, though: there is something about George having the shakes and being impotent, and there is something about Isabel not having any experience in the bedroom. Uh-oh.

Nice guy that he is, Ralph is sure that all this couple needs is some time to work things out. He admits that he and Dorthea had to go through a “period of adjustment,” too. Isabel is no dummy; if Ralph and Dorthea adjusted to each other, then how come she took a powder and why is he making a getaway? Ralph isn’t sure himself.

Dorthea’s rich parents show up to create more headaches for poor Ralph, but, as with most romantic comedies, everything works out in the end. The final scene is thick with nuzzling and cooing. There is no Blanche DuBois to wrap things up with a killer sign-off line.

Director Darrell Kitchell gets his cast members to do what they can with all this. Sullivan, with his big dog friendliness, helps Ralph be more fun than one might expect. The clamorous Smith can get on the nerves, but she also gives you an idea of what Isabel is all about, namely an uprooted hothouse orchid who doesn’t appear to have much in common with her husband. Satin plays George like he has got post-Vietnam syndrome. He is a little too disturbing in this relatively innocuous context. Kerek is just fine, though, as the insecure Dorthea.

‘PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT’

An Irvine Community Theater production of Tennessee Williams’ comedy. Directed by Darrell Kitchell. With Patrick Sullivan, Kellie Smith, Mark Satin, Marcia Bertholf, Cary McLean, Tracy Godfrey, Steve Camera and Barbara Kerek. Lighting by Carolyn Drake. Sound by Darrell Kitchell. Plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through March 12 at the Turtle Rock Community Park Stage, 1 Sunnyhill, Irvine. Tickets: $4 and $5. (714) 857-5496.