THEATER REVIEW : Savvy Cast Can’t Shed Light on ‘Zastrozzi’

There is something undeniably hypnotic about watching Russ Tamblyn deliver dialogue while doing a handstand on a chair. We think of his performance as Dr. Jacoby in “Twin Peaks” and suppress a giggle. He’s baaaa-ck!

There is something undeniably satiric about watching David L. Lander’s impish face transform into a silly grin while he experiences orgasm. We remember his character on “Laverne & Shirley.” Squiggy’s baaaa-ck!

But there is something ultimately opaque about “Zastrozzi, the Master of Discipline” at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, which even these savvy performers can’t illuminate. Perhaps director Jeffrey Marcus is obediently realizing Canadian playwright George F. Walker’s mystifying point, whatever that may be. Perhaps the play offers a hint when a character declares, “It’s 1893 and language, like everything else, is vague.”

Vague it is while juggling styles and balancing genres. On the page, this tale about a serial killer seeking revenge for his mother’s murder might seem like a mystery thriller. But on the stage, it’s alternately a very black comedy, a serious tragedy, and a spoof on Victorian melodramas. Sometimes Zastrozzi resembles Zorro dueling Pee Wee Herman. Is the arch-criminal De Sade or DeVito?

What’s not vague are the performances. Despite the erratic tone, Jonathan Penner’s schizophrenic killer manages to be both seductive and ominous. When Zastrozzi verbally seduces a maiden (a droll Nancye Ferguson), he’s a compelling Casanova. But when he rapes his mistress (a charming Beth Broderick) with a bullwhip, he’s repulsive.

Lawrence Monoson is his fascinating, blundering accomplice Bernardo. Together, the team of Zastrozzi and Bernardo become anything but a dynamic duo.

However, Lander and Tamblyn linger longest in our memories. As the killer’s prey, Lander is a lunatic artist claiming to be “God’s messenger,” while Tamblyn plays his good servant, determined to save a foolish master.

The production standards are first-rate, although composer Mark Mothersbaugh, co-founder ofDevo, seems wasted here with a muted score.

There’s a clue that the play may occur in Zastrozzi’s imagination. After all, he ends in a vacated prison for the criminally insane. But his final speech is delivered with corpses piled at his feet, each victim meticulously murdered.

What “Zastrozzi” needs is a clarifying master of discipline.

* “Zastrozzi, the Master of Discipline,” Beverly Hills Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson, Beverly Hills, Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 7 p.m., Sunday matinees 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 17. $12-$15. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours.