STAGE REVIEW : OCC Repertory Delivers Self-Indulgent ‘Basement’

Orange Coast College’s Repertory Company toys around with William Inge’s “The Boy in the Basement.” The group, composed of OCC students, uses the short drama like a playground for one antic after another.

The problem isn’t that “Basement” can’t lend itself to satire. The one-act by the author of such Middle America standards as “Picnic” and “The Country Girl” is self-conscious and naturally goofy--a brooding melodrama about a depressive mortician, his domineering mom and drunken dad.

But this lampoon, directed by Russell Dunn, is self-indulgent, without much more purpose than to give everyone a chance to act out. The cast (Kelly Flynn as the son, Jamie Marrs as his mother, Damon Hill as his father and Eric Person as a local kid) makes faces and works some monkey business on the dialogue, and everything’s too far out, too skewed even for modern farce. The production reads like a silly in-joke with only the actors and their friends in on the gag.

“Basement” is teamed with another meager one-act, Murry (“Luv,” “Jimmy Shine”) Schisgal’s absurdist “Fragments.” Directed by Ponzer Berkman, this production has a bit more going for it: At least Berkman and his players are trying to communicate straightforwardly. Unfortunately, though, Berkman doesn’t have a focused view of what Schisgal is striving for.

The claustrophobic play, about three neurotic men living uncomfortably in a small apartment, offers a take on basic Freudian psychology: The characters (Karl Person, Sharr White and Kelly Flynn) represent the id, ego and superego, all in conflict as they try to co-exist. We feel some of the tension in “Fragments,” but the playlet’s simple metaphor is blurred.

‘THE BOY IN THE BASEMENT’ and ‘FRAGMENTS’

An Orange Coast College Repertory Company production of one-acts by William Inge and Murry Schisgal. Directed by Russell Dunn and Ponzer Berkman. With Damon Hill, Kelly Flynn, Jamie Marrs, Eric Person, Karl Person, Sharr White and Shannon Cernich. Lighting by Ponzer Berkman. Sets by Russell Dunn. Makeup by Julie Bengfert. Plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. in the little theater next to the Drama Lab, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $4.50 and $6. (714) 432-5880.