‘Eagles’ Turns on Near-Death Experiences

Ron Mark’s “The Grace to Climb With Eagles,” as staged by Bob Neches for the Alliance Repertory Company, is too lumpy and overdrawn to attain a state of grace.

Middle-aged everyman Griffin (Jeff Doucette), beset by a nagging family (Candice Khristensun as his wife and Penelope Psaltiras as a bratty 18-year-old) and a much richer brother (Stephen Liska), suddenly finds his life transformed through a heart attack that leads to a near-death experience. While on the other side, he communes with teenage cancer patient Popeye (Hannah Castelluccio) somewhere on a Mexican mountain.

Returned to the temporal world, Griffin and Popeye discover each other and become friends, despite the strenuous opposition of Popeye’s mom (Stormie Ingram), who’s also the psychiatrist assigned to help Griffin cope with near-death.

Actually, everything here is strenuous. The plot is complicated, reaching recklessly into melodrama (people threatened at gunpoint) and farce (Griffin dresses in drag in order to gain admission to Popeye’s hospital room). Metaphors about flight and eagles abound. Griffin is all thumbs one minute, all bliss the next; Popeye recites sensitive poetry privately and unleashes bitter curses in public.

Most of the other characters are ridiculously unpleasant or half-cocked, apparently in order to better highlight the righteousness of the two near-death vets. Rather than inspiring us to appreciate life anew, which is the goal mentioned in the program notes, this play’s view of everyday life makes near-death look enviable.

* “The Grace to Climb With Eagles,” Alliance Theatre, 3204 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 18. $15. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.