THEATER REVIEW / ‘THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE’ : Less Simonized : Theatre Pacifica’s choice not to be funny gives the show a kind of impact not usually associated with its creator.

The landmarks are thoroughly familiar. A bickering couple in a cramped New York apartment suffering the slings and arrows of urban existence. Dramatic ironies so broad you could drive a truck through. And most telling of all, those relentless one-liners, capping dialogue that predictably opts for cleverness at the expense of truth.

Yep, it’s the unmistakable territory of Neil Simon, that phrasemaker to the stars, charted once again in Theatre Pacifica’s revival of “The Prisoner of Second Avenue.”

But wait--there’s something very strange here. Not long into this story of the mid-life crises and marital tensions that afflict our middle-class New Yorkers, we realize with a start that, hey, this isn’t very funny.

Even more startling--it isn’t intended to be. While the production has its problems, it works in unexpected ways.

In fact, the play is one of Simon’s more serious efforts. All but eclipsed by his better known satirical efforts from the early ‘70s, it’s the story of Mel (Rick Hansen), the downtrodden office worker whose enslavement to an unfulfilling life fosters the ironic title. For Mel is no romance novel hero; argumentative, sarcastic and ineffective, he whines incessantly about the losing battle his mid-40s has turned out to be.

Not that he hasn’t got reason to whine. His company’s declining fortunes may cost him his job. The noisy sex-addict stewardesses next door keep him up at night. When his wife leaves the door open for a few minutes, junkies rob the apartment. His resentment at seeing his empire reduced to a pair of khaki pants and a golf hat is certainly understandable.

So is the nervous breakdown he suffers when his fears of layoff come to pass.

Of course, a Simonized breakdown polishes the rough edges of schizophrenia to more comfortable contours--no matter how dark, there’s always potential for jokes and parody. And while Simon manages to steer clear of comedy for long stretches here, the urge to crown each dramatic peak with a joke proves too irresistible despite his serious intentions.

When Mel’s wife, Edna (Tiffany Story) asks him how he spent his idle time he retorts, “I took a walk--from the bedroom to the living room.” When he goes full-tilt bonkers, his paranoid fantasies about government plots to wipe out the middle class make for hysterical outbursts. And of course, there’s the obligatory closing punch line predictably set up by previous slapstick gags.

Yet despite the script’s opportunities for levity, director Craig A. Hane and his cast generally resist the temptation to play the piece for laughs. Even the obvious wisecracks are tinged with malice and sarcasm.

It might be tempting to dismiss this as a failure of comic timing, but the lead performers hit their other emotional notes so effectively we can’t help concluding they could be funny if they wanted to be. And the choice not to be gives the show a kind of impact not usually associated with its creator.

It’s far from a perfect production, frequently reflecting the limited resources of community theater. Still in its first year of existence, Theatre Pacifica is no serious competition to the area’s more professional venues.

Yet.

But what’s noteworthy is the clearly implemented vision and unexpected spin they’ve brought to material that could easily be presented more innocuously. It gives Neil Simon’s otherwise dated play a surprising mainstream urgency in the ‘90s of high unemployment and economic fatalism.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“The Prisoner of Second Avenue.” Performed Thursday and Friday nights at 8 p.m. through Sept. 25 at La Casa de la Raza, 601 E. Montecito St. in Santa Barbara. Tickets are $10. For reservations or further information call 564-0815.