‘Adam Henry’ Is Hard to Understand

Just who is Adam Henry and why should we care? Unfortunately, the first question is easier to answer than the second after seeing Dick Dewson’s new play by that name at the Tamarind Theatre.

In this effort to evoke the spirit of screwball ‘30s comedies, the title character (Richard Erdman) is an elderly aristocratic dilettante forced by his aunt’s will to find gainful employment or lose his inheritance.

His plan--to become a publicist for the retired stars who have been his lifelong cronies--gets a boost when a rental agreement mix-up brings a likable would-be entrepreneur (Rhae Ann Theriault) under his roof. Unaccountably, she agrees not only to share the mansion but to go into partnership with the humbugging Adam. Even harder to swallow is the cop-turned-aspiring-actor (Jeff Feldman) who aggressively (borderline offensively) pursues the girl under her fiance’s (Kelley Hinman’s) nose. As Adam’s well-to-do friend, Joan Crosby supplies a measure of much-needed class.

Scattershot staging by Henry Polic II fails to bring clarity to this muddle. Dewson’s script contrasts present-day Hollywood with its bygone glory days through unimaginative devices like having Adam perpetually talk on the phone to stars of yesteryear. Despite plenty of name-dropping in the service of authenticity, what’s lacking is the true eccentricity of character that engaged us enough to forgive improbable plots in the classic film comedies.

* “Adam Henry,” Tamarind Theatre, 5919 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends June 11. $15. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.