O.C. THEATER REVIEW : Teachers Help ‘Lounge’ Earn ‘A’ : A sharply defined cast, superb direction and detailed set raise John Twomey’s debut comedy beyond stereotyped vignettes.

His gallows humor about teachers on the brink of disaster has TV sitcom written all over it. And his best one-liners have the cute sound of Neil Simon Lite. But count John Twomey a success anyway in his first outing as a playwright.

The Laguna Playhouse premiere of “Teachers’ Lounge,” Twomey’s amusing take on the apparently unredeemable New York City school system, was a crowd-pleaser that drew peals of laughter Thursday night from a lively, nearly full house at the Moulton Theatre.

Surely all this play means to do is entertain, notwithstanding a slight bow to substance and a pat ending to prick the conscience. Contrary to pre-opening publicity, “Teachers’ Lounge” does not raise “serious questions.” It has no satirical bite. Nor does it send a message, unless it’s the one we get from the New York Post, in which the play’s chief cynic--Marty Goldberg, a teacher suffering from third-degree burnout--has his nose buried at the top of the first act.

The boldfaced headline on the Post’s front page--IT HURTS SO BAD!--more or less sums up the tone and spirit of Twomey’s comic theme. Or, as another veteran teacher--Nora O’Reilly, a tall blond earth goddess still fighting off burnout--rephrases the headline for us: “Schools Reopen; Thugs Off Streets.”

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What “Teachers’ Lounge” has in spades is not only a set design that recreates the drab environment of a New York high school down to the last detail but a sharply defined handful of teachers, all verging on caricatures nicely played and superbly directed, and a series of vignettes that takes us through a semester’s slice of life.

Besides Marty and Nora, we meet Sal Vincent, the smooth wiseguy; Susan Wagner, the ambitious brown-nose; Felix White, the prissy mama’s boy; Stan Cohen, the imminent retiree, and Wallace Johnson, the new kid on the block. They kvetch, mostly with cynical frustration, about everything from their illiterate students and a beleaguered educational system to their unhappy private lives.

If all their complaints have been heard before--and “Teachers’ Lounge” seems like nothing so much as “Barney Miller” transferred to the local high school--the production itself lends the script a freshness that transcends stereotype.

In fact, the playhouse has set something of a new standard for itself with this effort. It has created an original piece of work admirably suited to its audience, while avoiding the pitfall of artistic overreaching that plagued “Manet” four years ago.

Clearly, Twomey, 31, has experienced “Teachers’ Lounge” in his life. He is a New York City high school teacher. But writing from experience is no guarantee of success, and the playhouse took a big chance.

Kudos to all, not least to playhouse artistic director Andrew Barnicle, who plucked the script from a pile that came over the transom, staged it and helped Twomey shape it (a third of the dialogue is said to have been rewritten during rehearsals).

This is a comedy that has earned its applause.

* “Teachers’ Lounge,” Moulton Theater, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. (no matinee today, no performances Jan. 16, and matinee only Feb. 6). Ends Feb. 6. $14-$19. (714) 494-8021. Running time: 2 hours.

Sarah Lilly: Nora O’Reilly

Eric F. James: Marty Goldberg

Barry Wallace: Wallace Johnson

Skip Hamilton: Stan Cohen

Glen Vecchione: Felix White

John Ross Clark: Sal Vincent

Alice Ensor: Susan Wagner

A Laguna Playhouse production of a play by John M. Twomey, directed by Andrew Barnicle. Set design by Jim Ryan. Lighting design by R. Timothy Osborn. Costume design by Jacqueline Dalley. Sound design by David Edwards. Stage manager: Barbara Stephenson.