THEATER REVIEW : ‘Rancho’ Is Too Ambitious

Grupo de Teatro Sinergia packed its “Rancho Hollywood” with a stream of contemporary references, adding supposedly up-to-the-minute commentary to Carlos Morton’s 1980 comedy about California history.

Sometimes, though, it’s hard to keep up. At the Sunday performance at the Los Angeles Photography Center, the show’s final punch line hinged on the notion that Pete Wilson was running for President--when in fact he had ended his campaign two days earlier. Perhaps it’s the inevitable price for this show’s relentless effort to cram too much into what amounts to a long, labored skit.

According to the director, Ram, the show was modeled on the original El Teatro Campesino actos. Then Ram threw in elements of Mexican revistas (variety shows) and telenovelas. Whatever the influences, about nine out of every 10 gags misfire.

The show opens on a Hollywood set as a group of Latino actors in a historical movie about the days of the Californios protest their stereotyped roles to the director--who is himself a swishy gay stereotype. The irony of this appears to be unintentional.

The actors start reinterpreting their roles, improvising a story closer to the historical facts. This sort of comic-book revisionism worked spectacularly well when the San Francisco Mime Troupe tried it in “I Ain’t Yo Uncle.” Here, it doesn’t work at all.

* “Rancho Hollywood,” Los Angeles Photography Center, 412 S. Park View, Los Angeles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 6 p.m. Ends Nov. 26. $10. (213) 382-8133. Running time: 2 hours.