‘Lovely!’ Borders on the Bawdy Grotesque

“Lovely!” isn’t pretty.

The dysfunctional contingent of alienated Brits in Brenda Krantz’s new black comedy at the Santa Monica Playhouse pushes way past quirky eccentricity and into the realm of the grotesque. Chris DeCarlo’s staging faithfully honors that quality, but leaves no entree to engage the sympathies of an audience.

There’s certainly nothing endearing about the ironically monikered Virginia Lovely (Louise Sorel), a pasty, mascara-drenched spinster who employs deceit, manipulation and murder to maintain her residence in the frilly, knickknack-infested house of her late sister’s family.

The clan consists of her hard-nosed brother-in-law Basil (Chris Sullivan), a petty hood and gambler, and his annoyingly wild-eyed, loony daughter Rhea (Precious Chong). A meek, pliable guest (Ronald Hunter), lured into the household through a courtship correspondence, becomes an improbable willing accomplice in Miss Lovely’s schemes.

Devoid of insights that generalize into mainstream human experience, these outlandish portraits have their closest brush with humor in leering, bawdy puns--picture Benny Hill by way of David Cronenberg.

* “Lovely!” Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 4th St. Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 6 p.m. Ends May 18. $18. (310) 394-9779. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.