THEATER REVIEW : A Threadbare ‘Play’ Marred by Holes in Script : The Terrence McNally farce at Garden Grove Community Theatre is more bile than smile, and the staging doesn’t muster the feverish energy demanded by the author.

For some reason, it seems as if every successful American playwright: a) Counts the money coming in from the latest hit, then b) Blows off steam by writing a play that trashes the whole establishment that made the money possible in the first place.

Not every playwright does it, of course (the perennial class act, Arthur Miller, for instance) but from Neil Simon to John Patrick Shanley to Terrence McNally, a lot of them do, and it’s almost always a bad idea.

Take McNally’s 1986 “It’s Only a Play,” which has finally arrived in Orange County at Garden Grove Community Theatre. Borrowing liberally from the situations--if not the verve and wit--of Moss Hart’s backstage comedy “Light Up the Sky,” McNally’s would-be farce takes place in the upstairs bedroom of a neophyte Broadway producer’s home (Julia, played by Riley Evans) where the opening-night party is going on downstairs. Upstairs, naturally, it eventually turns into a funeral.

James (Peter Dolan) had turned down the lead in this play, “The Golden Egg,” by friend and playwright Peter (Bart Story). Now, he’s glad he did: James has a hunch it just laid an egg on opening night, or “a 35-pound Butterball,” as he phrases it.

Right off the bat, McNally is playing on the idea that the theater biz is no different from the movie biz: Nothing is relished like somebody else’s failure.

The first act amounts to a parade of stereotypes panting nervously for the first reviews. Before the papers arrive, the star (Jane Nunn’s Virginia), the Peter Sellars-ish director (Michael Kirchhoff’s Frank) and Peter join James and Julia in an orgy of back-stabbing, self-pity and eulogies for the death of Broadway.

This last notion underscores the problem with McNally’s threadbare comedy, since Broadway’s death has been declared so many times that the only joke is on the poor chap who declares it. Even more ludicrous, though, is the final stereotypical character: Ira (Michael Ross), a pompous critic clearly modeled on every New York playwright’s bete noire, John Simon.

One problem: Ira shouldn’t even be upstairs fraternizing with the very artists he’ll soon be reviewing for his monthly magazine. And McNally knows it: He has Ira acknowledge his professional misconduct and then fraternize anyway. He even pitches his play to the producer.

Now, we know playwrights hate critics, but things get out of hand in “It’s Only a Play.” The initial reviews everyone has been waiting for sound like the glowing quotes that show up in ads--until, that is, The Times’ man, David Richards, sounds forth. (The topical names are kept up to date in this current edition, per McNally’s instructions.)

This review isn’t a review at all, but a kind of verbal torture chamber, McNally’s gratuitously unfunny device to destroy every character in the room. Sometimes, playwrights are crueler than critics.

*

Unlike “Light Up the Sky,” “It’s Only a Play” collapses like a house of cards in the second act--you could say a review killed it.

The script demands a feverish energy that director Philip Weitzman’s staging isn’t up to. And his actors don’t seem quite up on their knowledge of theater references, not terrific in a play that’s most enjoyable in its catty jokes about current theater.

Among other things, if one actor isn’t referring to David Mamet as “David Mammette,” another is referring to Artaud as “Ar-Tod.” The performances? It’s only a show, but not everyone is up to speed.

Nunn genuinely captures the feeling of an actress making a comeback, and Jason W. Green is effortlessly funny as the clueless party servant. Dolan misses a lot of the nuances of James, the closest thing here to a genuine character, and Story doesn’t suggest a besieged author. Ross has Ira’s pomposity down cold and Kirchhoff effectively reeks of Yale-style self-importance, but Evans turns Julia’s problems into one long whine.

* “It’s Only a Play,” Garden Grove Community Playhouse, 12001 St. Mark Street, Garden Grove. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends March 12. $9. (714) 897-5122. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes. Jason W. Green Gus P. Head

Peter Dolan: James Wicker

Jane Nunn: Virginia Noyes

Michael Kirchhoff: Frank Finger

Riley Evans: Julia Budder

Michael Ross: Ira Drew

Bart Story: Peter Austin

Patti Toubail: Emma

A Garden Grove Community Theatre production of Terrence McNally’s comedy. Directed by Philip Weitzman. Set: Weitzman and Bob Harmon. Lights: Lee Schulman.