THEATER REVIEWS : ‘THE CEMETERY CLUB’ : Graveside Banter : The Ventura Plaza Players’ production on the bond between three Jewish widows is one of the group’s more successful efforts.

The characters in Ivan Menchell’s “The Cemetery Club” could not be any more stereotypical. Neither, fans of the play might argue, could they be any funnier.

Currently in production by Ventura’s Plaza Players and directed by Michael Maynez, the play is one of that group’s most successful efforts of the past couple of years.

Three Jewish women, all in what might be described (though certainly not by them) as late middle age, meet once a month to visit the graves of their husbands. The women have enjoyed a lengthy friendship laced with amiable combativeness.

But this camaraderie is headed for a crisis, unwittingly instigated by Sam, the butcher. Is it time for at least one of the long-grieving widows to return to life’s mainstream? And if she does, how will that affect the mutual relationship?

Serious undertones exist, but the play is mainly laughs, as the three prototypical yentas work their shtick upon one another and that poor schlemiel, Sam.

All right, enough, all ready. Back to English.

Lucille, Ida and Doris are bright, and financially “comfortable.” Tart-tongued Lucille (Leila Perlmutter) enjoys a good bargain in bad mink; Ida (Jeanine Taylor) is nice as could be, but surprisingly strong when the situation demands, and the self-righteous Doris, at least in Paula Dion’s interpretation, seems to have studied elocution at the Jackie Mason School of Arbitrary Mid-Sentence Inflections.

They’re an involving trio, all of whom have characteristics not confined to ethnic stereotyping. “Harry always brought me flowers,” Lucille notes of her late husband. “That’s how I knew that he was cheating.” An observation like that crosses all boundaries, as evidenced by the hearty laughter it received opening night.

It should be mentioned, by the way, that the play’s humor will probably appeal more to women than men, and more to the mature than the youthful. “More” does not mean “exclusively,” however, as “The Cemetery Club” has lots to offer everybody from teen-agers on up.

Steve Aguilar, whose Plaza Players debut earlier this year was as the spooky defendant in “The People vs. the Ranchman,” here turns in a quite different characterization. His halting delivery actually suits the hesitant swain Sam.

(Danny Aiello plays Sam in the version now being filmed by Disney; Ellen Burstyn, Diane Ladd and Olympia Dukakis are the three women).

Irene Fodor turns in a very funny cameo, though her accent sounds closer to Norway than to Queens, where the play is set. Steve Aguilar’s set is serviceable, and the costumes--credited to Lucille Van Ostrand and the cast--are often very funny.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“The Cemetery Club” continues Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights through Sept. 26 at the Plaza Players Theater, 34 N. Palm St. in Ventura. All performances are at 8 p.m. Reserved-seat tickets are $7 Wednesdays, $9 Fridays and $10 Saturdays, with group and senior citizen discounts available. For group sales and theater parties, call John Larsen at 487-4504; for reservations or further information, call the Plaza Players Theater at 643-9460.