Neil Simon’s ‘Favorite’ Gets the Right Treatment

Before Neil Simon got really serious (“Brighton Beach Memoirs,” etc.), back when he was happy writing light situation comedies and raking in the royalties, he rarely attempted plays that really had something to say.

One was “Fools,” about a Russian village under a supposed curse of stupidity, based on a Russian myth. Another was “God’s Favorite,” now at the Camino Real Playhouse. None of these early efforts at weighty material was commercially successful, and “God’s Favorite” shows why: The moral edges out the one-liners.

The play is based very loosely on the biblical story of Job and the woes visited on him by a God determined to test his faith. In Simon’s version, Joe Benjamin is a multimillionaire manufacturer of cardboard boxes. His wife swathes herself selfishly in luxury; his oldest son David is a ne’er-do-well self-absorbed drunk; only Joe’s youngest kids, Ben and Sarah, even approach their father’s offhanded but sincere piety. Everything to Joe is “God’s will.”

Suddenly Joe gets a late-night visit from Sidney Lipton, who identifies himself as a messenger from God. It’s only a job to Lipton. He lives in Queens and has a pushy wife, but he is empowered to offer Joe the world if only Joe will renounce God to settle a bet the deity has made with Satan. Otherwise, Joe had better watch out.

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Joe stands firm in his faith, and the disasters that follow make Job’s lot look like a tea party.

When director Giovanna Fusco keeps things sincere and natural, her staging works well. But some self-indulgent overplaying creeps in once in a while and takes the satiric edge off Simon’s writing which, in any case, is not his best.

Jim McElenney plays Joe as straightforwardly, as he can, and the production survives because of it. This Joe believes sincerely in everything he stands for, and McElenney’s underplaying is just what the script demands.

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The evening’s best moments are Joe’s scenes with Lipton. Although Jack Egan doesn’t always seem sure of his lines, his kooky Lipton--looking like someone borrowed from Woody Allen--is funny and believable. McElenney and Egan sometimes look as if they’re doing a classic vaudeville turn.

Jack Clinton and Lori Hurite are the youngest Benjamins, and they are close to the mark, bright and charming and never stepping out of a sense of reality. Char Salkin leaves reality behind with her overboard, cliched stereotype of a Jewish wife. Although he calms down in the last act, Warren Herr as David makes the mistake of doing a silly sitcom drunk and rarely looks as though he’s from the same well-to-do family as everybody else. Amy Higgins and George Boyer are all right as the servants.

The scenic design, by George Bolta and Joe La Masa, doesn’t look quite as plush as the Benjamins’ home should in the beginning, but its transformation into a burned-out hulk in Act 2 is very effective.

* “God’s Favorite,” Camino Real Playhouse, 31776 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Ends Saturday. $10. (714) 489-8082. Running time: 2 hours.

Jim McElenney: Joe Benjamin

Jack Egan: Sidney Lipton

Char Salkin: Rose Benjamin

Warren Herr: David Benjamin

Lori Hurite: Sarah Benjamin

Jack Clinton: Ben Benjamin

Amy Higgins: Mady

George Boyer: Morris

A South Orange County Community Theatre production of a play by Neil Simon, produced by B.J. Scott, directed by Giovanna Fusco. Scenic design: George Bolta and Joe La Masa. Lighting design: Phil Blandin. Stage manager: Robert Murphy.