A ‘Gift’ for Comedy

There’s an inventive and kinky twist to the mind that created “Gift of God,” at Actors’ Playhouse in Long Beach.

Playwright Richard Freedman took the biblical story of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac, reset it in the present and made the protagonists a young couple in the first throes of romance.

The result--albeit flawed--is a delightful situation comedy that also deals with problems of faith and hope and the reasons we believe what we do.

Sal, a nickname for the young man, whose real name is Isaac, talks to God. Not, perhaps, the Judeo-Christian God, but a god who has chosen to speak to this lonely bachelor. Sal listens enraptured when his god speaks (thunder) and cooks meals for God, which he places on a kooky shrine in his living room (God’s favorite meal is chicken Florentine).

Sal finally summons the courage to ask God for a favor. Sal is hungry for a female companion (thunder). On a bus next day Sal sits next to a withdrawn young woman named Ted, short for Theodora, which means “gift of God.”

This first taste of corn in the script is soon relieved by Freedman’s insightful and genuinely funny dialogue, even after Ted discovers that she is to be literally sacrificed to appease Sal’s God.

Sal explains, “A religion always needs a good kickoff.”

Of course, Sal can’t do it, and God suddenly speaks to Ted, giving her the order to sacrifice Sal. Don’t worry: No blood is spilled, and God finally smiles on the young lovers.

If this all sounds contrived, it is. But Freedman’s handling of his plot and the injection of genuinely thoughtful ideas about religion (“God is real,” says Ted, “we just make up the packaging.”) are lucid and intelligent. Freedman also makes it very funny, as does director Shannon C.M. Flynn, whose tongue is in her cheek as much as Freedman’s is in his.

The only traffic bumps are pauses between some of the too-short screenplay-like scenes. The situation could as easily be developed in fewer more centered scenes, making the comic rhythms smoother.

Flynn knows this type of writing needs to rise like a souffle, and she makes it happen. She has also cast the production impeccably.

Jason Esquerra, a handsome and boyish Sal, handles his long monologues to God with such ease that they are totally believable. Morgana Rae’s pixieish and always intricate Ted is a sheer delight. Their timing is exceptionally sharp, making Freedman’s bright dialogue sound as if it were right out of a 1930s screwball comedy.

“Gift of God” needs tightening and simplification to be its best, but this charming production shows its possibilities in a most delightful, warm light.

BE THERE

“Gift of God,” L.A. Jewish Theatre, Actors’ Playhouse, 1409 E. 4th St., Long Beach. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends June 7. $15. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours.