No Restraint in This ‘Take’

Eccentricity is hard to pull off on stage. Just how far do you go letting everyone know that you’re off-center and loving it?

The cast in Golden West College’s outdoor production of “You Can’t Take It With You” goes too far. Presented with a menagerie of very odd, very familiar characters, the actors let it all out, with numbing results.

Sure, George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s much-produced comedy, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1936, is designed to be played broadly. But with everything good, it’s all a question of degrees. Too many actorly indulgences, and the play’s age (those jokes aren’t as timeless as some theater historians would like to believe) really begins to show.

The comedy is all about the Sycamores, a Depression-era Addams Family living in its own screwball universe of relaxed expectations and the understanding that the small things in life are meant to be enjoyed in a big way.

Grandpa (Rollo Sternaman), the clan’s patriarch, hasn’t worked or paid income tax in dozens of years; he’d much rather watch the grass grow. Penny (Lorry Partridge) is a benevolent basket-case who writes plays (“Poison Gas” is her war epic) because a typewriter was delivered to her by mistake.

Her husband, Paul (Billy Broyhill), loves erector sets and makes fireworks in the basement. Mr. DePinna (Antonio Cotela), who showed up one day and just decided to stay on, helps Paul in the basement and runs around in a Greek tunic.

The only one you could call normal is Alice (Kristy Christensen), who wants to marry her boss’ son Tony (Nathan Koval) and is more than a little embarrassed by her family. Everything gets even more topsy-turvy when Tony’s parents (Sandra Berge and John Carlson) are invited to dinner. A drunk actress makes an appearance. Then the cops show up. Then the fireworks blow. Then a Russian countess comes around.

Under the co-direction of Renata Florin (who also plays the Duchess) and Charles Mitchell, it all gets messy. And the performances, for the most part, just get too broad.

*

Erin K. Granahan as the wacky Essie amuses some at the start with her bizarre, painfully awkward dancing, but the sight gag proves wearisome as the production goes on. Then there’s Broyhill. He plays Paul as an overgrown baby; you don’t know whether to laugh at his antics or hope someone will walk up and burp him.

There are a pair of more restrained performances that work better. Florin is fine as the Duchess. She gets us to smile as she maintains an Old World dignity amid all the shenanigans. And Koval is solid as the loving, bemused suitor.

*

On the technical side, Charles Davis’ theater-in-the-round set, which depicts the Sycamore’s living room, is arranged gracefully and gives the cast plenty of room to ramble through. Brandon Dunning’s lighting could be more adventurous, especially during the exploding fireworks scene, long a great opportunity for visual pyrotechnics.

* “You Can’t Take It With You,” Golden West College’s Patio Theater, 15744 Goldenwest St., Huntington Beach. Thursday, Friday and July 19 and 20, 8:30 p.m. Ends July 20. $6 and $8. (714) 895-8378. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

“You Can’t Take It With You,”

Lorry Partridge: Penny

Erin K. Granahan: Essie

Brenda Calvillo: Rheba

Billy Broyhill: Paul

Antonio Cotela: Mr. DePinna

D. Scott Rittiman: Ed

Frankie Carrera: Donald

Rollo Sternaman: Grandpa

Kristy Christensen: Alice

Robert McCormack: Kolenhkov

Renata Florin: the Grand Duchess

Anthony DiFolco: Henderson and a G-Man

Janice Lewis: Miss Wellington

Nathan Koval: Tony

Sandra Berge: Mrs. Kirby

John Carlson: Mr. Kirby

Brion Armstrong: G-Man

Gregory Dunham: G-Man

A Golden West College production of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s comedy, directed by Renata Florin and Charles Mitchell. Set: Charles Davis. Lighting: Brandon Dunning. Costumes: Pamela Tallman and Bonnie Roncayolo. Sound: Scott Steidenger. Stage manager: Leah Russo.