Temptation to Satirize in Ripe ‘Garden’

Eve seems to be feeling fairly ripe in the sunshine of the Garden, all hot and bothered waiting for Adam to come back home from his farming chores. “With Adam,” she tells us, “I talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. We have such open lines of communication.”

Oh, and by the way, Eve is a guy in drag, the Garden is a kind of crazy, comic-book creation and Satan is reading the World Weekly News behind Eve’s back (headline: “Satan Escapes From Hell!”)?

It’s pretty easy to get your eras, tenses and genders mixed up in the goofy, hourlong bouillabaisse of a spoof that is local playwright Jimmie Russell’s new “Developing the Garden: The Fall of Orange County.”

A wise-guy linkage of biblical fable and Orange County-isms, this is the sort of thing the O.C. Crazies would do if they: a) didn’t do skits, and b) had a budget for set and light design.

Because Russell’s comedy is being staged (by whom, the program never states) at Costa Mesa Studio Gallery, there’s also an anarchistic side not far from performance art--which was originally produced in galleries and other spaces that had nothing to do with theater. But unlike some, Russell’s is a shaped play with a beginning, middle and end.

The beginning and end belong to the angel Abdiel, whom James Iansiti plays half seriously, half funky dress-up. He describes Lucifer’s fall from grace while standing by a floor chandelier bedecked in candles that sets a beautiful, ancient mood. But wait--Abdiel asks for a smoke, then calls Lucifer “one subtle mother[expletive]”

The moment you think this is a Bible story retold, it becomes a mix of “Kindred” and “Melrose Place.” And the moment you think it’s all a joke, it turns to the Bible again. Thus, the main plot line of the Snake (with Satan speaking for it) tempting Eve with the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is followed. But not until we’re served up a nutty, quietly raunchy tete-a-tete with Russell as Eve (in flesh-colored leotard complete with anatomically correct breasts and pubic hair) and Gordon McGrath as a suave, wheelin’-dealin’ Satan dressed in his best show-biz black.

Russell’s main joke is that Lucifer is like some one-man Irvine Co. gone mad with bulldozers, laying waste to the garden called Orange County and buying up everyone in the process--starting with Eve.

The Bible does teach that Mammon is the devil’s work, so even when the farce goes completely over the top, it never strays from a religious core.

If only we were in Apple County. If only the script employed more topical references than the few it manages. And if only the cast were a bit more daring with their comedic instincts, which could be much juicier and louder. This is a time for unrestrained hamminess, and Russell’s Eve comes closest to the right degree of delirium.

Still, whatever could go on in this large, high-ceilinged space might be just the thing to kick the ever-conservative local theater scene in its backside. How about “Revelations: The Musical”?

* “Developing the Garden: The Fall of Orange County,” Costa Mesa Studio Gallery, 1011 Brioso, Suite 106, Costa Mesa. Friday-Saturday, 9 p.m. Runs indefinitely. $10. (714) 650-5481. Running time: 1 hour.

Gordon McGrath: Satan

Jimmie Russell: Eve

James Iansiti: Abdiel