STAGE REVIEW : How Nerdy? We’ve Got ‘Feelings’ on a Tambourine to Sheet Music

Larry Shue’s popular comedy “The Foreigner” is about an unbelievably shy but likable European turned loose on a rural American household. In “The Nerd,” at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse through May 6 (and soon to be produced at the Moulton Theatre in Laguna Beach), Shue again tosses an outsider into unfamiliar surroundings.

In this go-round, though, the guy is unbearable, a walking dictionary of obnoxious mannerisms. The nerd in “The Nerd” makes “Saturday Night Live’s” Annoying Man look like someone you’d want to have dinner with.

Like “The Foreigner,” this comedy tries to find momentum in the characters’ reactions to the intruder, in how they politely deal with an uncomfortable new element in their routines. And, as in the earlier play, the gags tend to be low-brow and strained. The few giggles--thenerd playing “Feelings,” on the tambourine, to sheet music, no less--are fleeting.

The arrival of the nerd (Ken Perkins) especially complicates the life of Willum (Greg Guy), whose life is already complicated enough by his mixed feelings for love interest Tansy (Michelle McHugh). Hovering nearby is pal Axel (Tom Redding), a drama critic blessed with glib wit, at least partly fueled by his apparent alcoholism.

The nerd, we learn, saved Willum’s life during the Vietnam War, so Willum feels indebted. Because Willum’s such a nice guy, with a stunning degree of tolerance, he puts up with the nerd until the breaking point. Before that, of course, come lots and lots of shenanigans.

At Costa Mesa, director Jon Sidoli is at the mercy of the script, and he realizes that subtlety and shadowing have no place in it. It would be foolish to make more out of this than it is, and Sidoli doesn’t try; he lets it all clang along in a broad style, and his cast keeps in step.

Perkins’ nerd is certainly dressed for the part, with help from costumer Loretta Lupo: This is typical nerd chic, with the tight, polyester pants, the tight short-sleeved shirt, the crummy tie, the assortment of pens arranged in the pocket guard and the broken horn-rimmed glasses, taped in the middle. His voice is loud and nasal.

As Willum, Guy reacts to this human mess with bewilderment that eventually gives way to shock, then desperation. Guy is an animated young actor who could probably have played the nerd himself. He’s lacking, though, when it comes to his own character’s romantic side. McHugh’s Tansy is rather stylish, really too much so for the bumbling Guy. As Axel, Redding is snobby but not always funny; his high-horse pronouncements tend to annoy as much as amuse.

The production shows quality on the technical side. Eugene McDonald’s set of Willum’s living room, complete with stairway and raised entrance, is well made. Jeffrey Ault’s lighting is restrained and effective.

‘THE NERD’

A Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse production of Larry Shue’s comedy. Directed by Jon Sidoli. With Greg Guy, Michelle McHugh, Tom Redding, Brian Burnes, Joy Yurada, Aaron Fox and Ken Perkins. Set by Eugene McDonald. Lighting by Jeffrey Ault. Costume adviser Loretta Lupo. Plays Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through May 6 at 661 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa. Tickets: $8 and $9. (714) 650-5269.