College’s Would-Be Authors Are Not Alone : Theater: Class creates ‘He and She: An Alien Mystery,’ a play-by-committee. It will preview tonight.

At Rancho Santiago College’s “New Plays and Players” workshop, you can forget the stereotype of a writer toiling solo, in a cocoon of self-expression. Instead, picture a flock of would-be creators asked to put their egos aside and meld together to conceive and then hammer out a play.

Ah, utopia. But can it work?

“Sure, it can get chaotic, off-the-wall. There can be problems with continuity and point of view,” admits Roy Conboy, a Rancho Santiago instructor and the workshop’s director.

“But part of the excitement comes from the group dynamic, from the ideas that can come from several people. We try not to worry about things getting too far out.”

The latest product of the workshop, founded by Conboy nearly five years ago, is “He and She: An Alien Mystery.” It previews tonight and opens Friday at the campus’ Phillips Hall Little Theatre.

As with prior projects, “He and She” is not your standard theatrical fare. In describing its eccentric plot, even Conboy had to take a steadying breath, pausing to set his sights on where to begin. “Well, it’s a really mixed-up thing,” he ventured. “It’s a comedy with serious themes. . . . The story is of a detective who has to find a double-sexed alien who is creating havoc on Earth.”

Conboy went on to explain that the trouble caused by this gender-blending E.T. is mostly of the sexual sort. Because of its anatomical makeup, it can have sex with just about anybody it wants to. And it wants to a lot.

“This creates all types of confusion, and we look at sexism and role-playing this way,” Conboy said. “Also, because of the way they are, the idea is that the alien has a more balanced (sexual identity than humans).”

He readily conceded that “He and She” is far-fetched and comically rambling, the result of a laboratory that doesn’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. But he was equally quick to defend the play as “worth seeing, an entertaining, fun piece that everyone has put much time into.”

Conboy felt the same way about the workshop’s last offering, “The Woman With Two Husbands,” that was staged last May. But while it may have been a workshop success, it didn’t do so well from a critical perspective. A Times review called the play “a plodding, unfunny philosophical morass.”

But, says Conboy, “He and She” is a “more unified” piece. Besides, he doesn’t expect workshop projects to be viewed as final, refined plays fit for Broadway or any other major theatrical testing ground.

For one thing, the program operates with little money, requiring everyone to work with minimal sets and stage accessories. Then, of course, there are the inherent problems of reaching a consensus about the subject matter and of making good on its execution.

Conboy said he draws on his own experience as a produced playwright to give the students direction and keep everything focused, at least a little. (His anti-gang drama, “Happy Birthday, Angel,” is taken to Orange County campuses by South Coast Repertory’s Hispanic Playwrights Project, and he recently won a National Endowment for the Arts writing fellowship.)

“Actually, the disagreements aren’t too fierce, people self-regulate themselves pretty well. But when they don’t, it’s my job to keep things going in a general direction,” he said.

“I do try to defer to them, though. Really, the play is almost secondary. What’s important in the workshop is investigating the creative and imaginative processes.”

* The Rancho Santiago College “New Plays and Players” workshop will present a preview of “He and She: An Alien Mystery” tonight at 8 p.m. The regular run opens Friday and continues Fridays and Saturdays through May 12, with matinees at 3 p.m. on April 28 and May 12. At the campus’s Phillips Hall Little Theatre, 17th and Bristol streets, Santa Ana. Tickets: $6 to $10. Information: (714) 564-5661.