THEATER BEAT : ‘Dearly Departed’: Funeral Frolics

David Bottrell and Jessie Jones’ “Dearly Departed,” at the Court Theatre, is set “somewhere below the Mason-Dixon Line,” and makes the same use of Southern stereotypes as “Hysterical Blindness.” The difference is in the viewpoint.

Here the brush strokes are broad and the characters are generally treated with derision rather than affection. The play is “Hee-Haw” in tone, and audiences that loved “Daddy’s Dyin’, Who’s Got the Will” will love this one, with its knee-slapping outrageousness and its own share of toilet humor.

One more in a long line of funeral plays, it opens with Daddy’s dyin’ at the breakfast table, while his wife, Raynelle (Molly McClure), reads a letter from Daddy’s religious zealot sister Marguerite (Jane Kean). As the scruffy clan gathers for the wake and funeral, they play out their dysfunctions with relish.

Director Kenneth Elliott knows the outlandish comic territory and keeps the company jumping. Some of it is funny, if you don’t know the age of the gags, such as overweight sister Delightful’s (Winifred Freedman) silently shoving food into her mouth while staring blankly (18th-Century actress Mrs. Jordan did it at Drury Lane).

McClure is solid as the mother who wants “mean and surly” inscribed on her husband’s tombstone, Kean keeps within bounds as the church-whipped sister, and the best comic performance belongs to co-author Bottrell as Kean’s ne’er-do-well son. Dan Manning also stands out as McClure’s responsible son Ray-Bud.

“Dearly Departed,” Court Theatre, 722 N. La Cienega . Thursdayse-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 & 8 p.m. Ends April 11. $20; (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.