Question Marks in a Period Piece

LONG BEACH — Things have changed since 1912. You get an undeniable sense of how much from John Boruff’s “The Loud Red Patrick,” a comedy that is set in that year and which feels even more ancient. It’s at the Long Beach Playhouse.

Although there was no such thing as Women’s Lib in 1912, they did have suffragettes and young women eager to assert their independence. Girls, too, who wanted to go college and choose their own destinies, without Daddy’s approval, if necessary.

So meet 17-year-old Maggie Flannigan (Cassendre de la Fortrie), who has just been accepted at Vassar. Nothing is more important to her father, Patrick Flannigan (Robert Kokol), than to see her get a higher education. He wants her to cultivate her mind, make use of her talents, improve herself, live up to her potential.

But Maggie, who sees herself as an independent woman of her time, would rather not. Instead of going to Vassar, she would rather marry Ralph Penrose (Andrew Kelley), an equally wholesome young man. They want to settle down immediately to start their own family, and if Mr. Flannigan doesn’t see it their way . . . well, he’ll just have to take his overbearing paternalism elsewhere.

Just why the playhouse would choose to stage “The Loud Red Patrick”--and without the least hint of irony--is beyond me, unless this is the sort of old-fashioned play its audience demands. Which, notwithstanding its largely gray-haired patrons, I doubt.

On opening night, I overheard one elderly woman putting the best face on her reaction. “Well, it’s not much of a play,” she said. “But at least the acting’s good.”

She was not talking to me, but I would beg to differ. The acting is uneven.

Kokol gives a likably choleric performance in the title role; Yvonne Robertson is credible and comic as Mrs. Gallup; Bill Peters is entertaining but not credible as Mr. Finnegan; and 8-year-old Tracy Bordwell not only knows her lines but is adorable speechifying them as little Rita. De la Fortrie, a recent theater graduate from UC Irvine, means well as Maggie. So does Kelley as Penrose. But they don’t have a clue.

The period costumes are excellent, though. And the set and lighting work well.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

“The Loud Red Patrick,” Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage, 5021 E. Anaheim St. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees July 14, 28 and Aug. 4, 2 p.m. Ends Aug. 10. $10. (310) 494-1014). Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Heather Violet Robertson: Rosalie Flannigan

Tracy Bordwell: Rita Flannigan

Cassendre de la Fortrie: Maggie Flannigan

Amanda Cundiff: Mary Flannigan

Yvonne Robertson: Mrs. Gallup

Robert Kokol: Patrick Flannigan

Bill Peters: Mr. Finnegan

Andrew Kelley: Ralph Penrose

Jason Michael Massicotte: Richard

A Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage production of a play by John Boruff, directed by Darlene Hunter-Chaffee. Set designer: Steven Jay Warner. Costume designer: Donna Fritsche. Lighting designer: Michelle Evans. Sound designer: Eric Teggers. Hair and makeup design: Lane Fragomeli. Stage manager: Kathleen Rainey.