GOINGS ON : Comedy Performance Has a Serious Purpose : Staging of Noel Coward’s ‘Hay Fever’ is a benefit to help raise funds for repairs to Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theater.

One member of Santa Barbara’s theatrical community will help out another tonight.

In a performance benefiting the Lobero Theater, the Ensemble Theatre Co. is presenting Noel Coward’s 1925 comedy, “Hay Fever,” at the Alhecama Theatre.

The Lobero Theatre Foundation is attempting to raise $150,000 by Sept. 1 so seismic retrofitting can begin on the roof of the 122-year-old landmark. The city of Santa Barbara has set a deadline of Jan. 1 for completion of the project. If the project is not finished by then, the theater would be forced to close.

Members of the foundation are trying to raise an additional $1.2 million to complete the roof renovation, the final phase of a $3.5-million seismic improvement project.

Despite the theater’s shaky future, plans are continuing for the 1995-1996 Lobero season.

Tickets to tonight’s benefit are $35, which will include cocktails at 5:30 and a picnic dinner at 6. The play will begin at 8 p.m. Call 963-0761. The Alhecama is at 914 Santa Barbara St.

The Ensemble Theatre Co. will continue its run of “Hay Fever” through Aug. 13. Show times are Wednesday to Sunday at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15-$20. Call 962-8606.

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If you’ve always wanted to attend a theatrical performance inside a motorcycle shop, James Donlon & Co. and the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum will provide that opportunity with a back-by-popular-demand run of “Wrench” tonight through July 29 at Santa Barbara Motorcycles.

Through a combination of performance art, traditional acting and physical acting (accent on the physical), “Wrench” takes a look at a day in the life of two brothers, both mechanics, who own their own shop, and the Chicano muse who gives them advice about life.

The younger brother wants to leave the shop to manage a fast-lube franchise, while the older brother attempts to keep the business intact, thereby hanging on to the tradition and values passed down by his father and grandfather.

Show times are Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14 (general), $12 (students). Call 966-5373. Santa Barbara Motorcycles is at 418 State St.

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Horse lovers will be dropping by the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara tonight through Saturday (and July 12-16) for the 76th annual Santa Barbara National Horse Show. Western horses, saddlebreds, ponies and roadsters will be the focus this weekend, with hunters and jumpers taking center stage next weekend. Admission is free.

Performances this weekend will begin at 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Next weekend it will be 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. only. Call 687-8711 for more information. The showgrounds are off the Ventura Freeway at the Las Positas Road exit.

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Friday night’s Stephen Stills concert at The Gainey Vineyard in Santa Ynez is sold out. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the concert kicks off Gainey’s Concerts in the Vineyard Series. Following Stills to the outdoor stage will be the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, performing Saturday. Tickets are $28.

Rounding out the series will be shows by Rita Coolidge, Tower of Power, Dave Koz and Michael McDonald (also a sellout). Seating is first-come, first-served for all concerts. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., with show time at 7:30 p.m. Call 688-0558. The vineyard is at 3950 E. Highway 246.

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Jerome Lowenthal, Denis Brott, Fred Ormand and other top musicians, all of whom make up the faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, will present an all-Mozart concert Tuesday at the Lobero Theater. Tickets are $20. Call 963-0761. The Lobero is at 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

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ONGOING: The Santa Barbara Shakespeare Festival is continuing its simultaneous runs of “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Black Comedy” through July 22 at the Center Stage Theater. “Taming of the Shrew” will be presented tonight, Saturday, Wednesday and July 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22. “Black Comedy” will be performed Friday, Sunday, Tuesday and July 13, 15, 19 and 21. Show times are Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets are $14 (Sunday to Thursday), $16 (Fridays and Saturdays). Call 963-0408. Center Stage is on the second level of the Paseo Nuevo shopping center at Chapala and De La Guerra streets.