‘Brine County’ a Sharp Satiric Mix

Imagine a “Hee Haw” skit as written by Eudora Welty and you’ll get some idea of Christopher V. Alessi’s one-man comedy “Brine County Wedding” at the Santa Monica Playhouse. The action transpires in the tiny hamlet of Brine, Ala., on the hottest day of the year. It’s Carolyn Carmichael’s wedding day, and in between musing about how such a “bitch” hooked herself a husband, the townsfolk are busily preparing for the big event. We meet Ed, the town postmaster for whom gossip is the breath of life; Mary Louise Rawlins, the acid-tongued bridesmaid who would rather eat a bug than attend this wedding; and Loretta, the sunny hairdresser who quotes Ricki Lake like the Bible.

Alessi adopts a generic Southern quality that blurs the lines between many of his characters. However, Alessi’s writing, apart from a couple of dropped plot points, is sharp, and his comic timing, under the astute direction of Henry Polic II, superb. Wear loose clothing so you don’t split a seam laughing when wanna-be country star T. Tommy Davis (no, he doesn’t actually play that guitar), warbles a poignant country torch song beginning, “On my butt I wear a picture of a lady. I put her there to keep her off my mind.”

* “Brine County Wedding,” Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 4th St., Santa Monica. Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m. Ends Sept. 24. $20.50. (310) 394-9779, ext. 1. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.