A Mature Comedy : Most of the quirky Midwestern characters in the revival of ‘Morning’s at Seven’ are senior citizens.

“It’s not really daunting,” Roy Hammond said of directing actors twice his age. “But it is im pressive--what they bring to their characters, and how quickly they bring it. Also, they bring their whole lives, which is wonderful.”

Hammond, 33, is definitely the junior figure these days at the Apex Playhouse, where a revival of Paul Osborn’s gentle period comedy “Morning’s at Seven” opens tonight.

“There are nine characters,” said the Baltimore-born director, “and seven of them are in their 60s. The other two are 40 and 36.”

The story, set in the Midwest circa 1938, takes place over 24 hours in the neighboring back yards of three sisters: Cora, Arry and Ida.

“Arry has lived with Cora and (her brother-in-law) Theodore since her parents died,” Hammond said. “Living in the house next door are Carl and Ida and their 40-year-old son Homer. Homer has been dating a girl for 12 years and, on the day the play takes place, he’s finally bringing Myrtle home to meet them.”

The fourth sister, Esther, lives down the street with her college professor husband David. “He never liked anyone in her family,” said the director, “so she has to sneak around to see them.”

Subsequently, things get rather sticky when David catches Esther visiting her sisters, and announces that he’s banishing her to a single floor in their home--never to have contact with him.

It’s also revealed that Arry has secretly been in love with Theodore for many years, which has Cora understandably itching for her sister to move out.

“It’s a very simple play,” Hammond said. “It’s no ‘Terminator’ with action or a major plot. But it is very funny. They’re all quirky characters--and Myrtle is the catalyst.”

The play, which has had major local revivals in past years at the Ahmanson Theatre (1981), South Coast Repertory (1993) and the Old Globe (1993), all but disappeared when it premiered on Broadway in 1939.

“It opened the same year as (Howard Lindsay’s) ‘Life With Father’ and (Moss Hart’s) ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner,’ Hammond said. “They were both very broad comedies. Apparently, the producers of this play thought that to compete, it had to be very broad as well--which was a big mistake. It was a flop.”

The actor-director says that when he first read the script, “I saw a lot of potential.”

Ditto Apex co-founder Ron Kidd, who’s producing the play.

“In the year since we started doing shows here,” Kidd said, “we’ve had a preponderance of (material for) young people--occasionally the role for a more mature person, but nothing to sink their teeth into. I knew these older actors and felt they needed an opportunity to perform. Also, we get a lot of senior citizens in our audiences. So we thought this show was really something they could relate to.”

Where and When What: “Morning’s at Seven.”

Location: Apex Playhouse, 139 N. San Fernando Road, Burbank.

Hours: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. June 26, July 10 and July 17. Closes July 23.

Price: $12.50 general; discounts for children, senior citizens and groups.

Call: (818) 566-7325.