A ‘Wonderful World’? Not for These Folks

Laguna Playhouse’s “Wonderful World” is about four characters--in the form of two couples--who are all in jobs in which they supposedly help others. How nice.

Not so surprisingly, their world turns out to be not so wonderful. And these four are so helpless in the face of their own problems, the idea that they might help others is laughable.

Which isn’t a bad quality in a comedy. Richard Dresser has written another play in the vein of his recent “Gun-Shy,” which played Laguna in 2000. Once again, he gets most of his laughs--and this time, the melancholic subtext is a little clearer.

We meet the first couple, Jennifer and Max, at home, as they await the arrival of the second, Max’s brother Barry and his wife, Patty. Jennifer and Max live together, and tonight they plan to announce their engagement.

Unfortunately, in an uncharacteristic flight of extreme candor, Max lets it slip to his intended that, a few months prior, he was so spooked about making commitments that he had brief fantasies about killing her. Now it’s Jennifer’s turn to be spooked. Then Barry shows up without Patty.

Barry’s in a snit because Patty’s in an even bigger snit. It seems that when Max left the invitation on Barry’s answering machine, he neglected to mention Patty by name. Max may have meant to include both of them, but Barry has brought the answering machine tape as proof that he didn’t.

And so the comedic ball starts rolling, prodded by Max’s confession and his perceived snub of Patty. Although the former may appear to be the more serious, the latter emerges as the driving force of the narrative, reverberating in ways that might appear to be ludicrously disproportionate but nevertheless reflect how small incidents can blaze into wildfires.

After Patty arrives in the fourth scene, just about every relationship is on the rocks, if it wasn’t there already. The men’s mother, Lydia, watches with bemusement from the sidelines.

Although not emphasized, the characters’ jobs add a layer of irony. Max is a high school counselor; Jennifer takes customer complaints over the phone at some unidentified manufacturer; Barry is a motivational speaker; and Patty is an executive at a nonprofit organization.

Patty’s profession is a smart revision of the version of “Wonderful World” that premiered earlier this year at the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival, in which Patty was a TV news executive. It’s a cliche that TV news executives are cold and ruthless; it’s a better joke that Patty is shark-like while running an office that presumably has altruistic aims.

As Patty, Kthe Mazur savors every sharp edge of a woman who is brutally honest much of the time and shamefully manipulative in her other waking moments. It’s fun to watch her stamp around in high heels in a hospital waiting room.

Cameron Watson’s Max looks like a pleasant, handsome young man--which is the image Max hopes to convey. But we soon learn that he’s troubled by memories of his parents’ marriage and that, apart from his initial confession, he tends to tiptoe around the truth in people-pleasing fashion--in short, he’s Patty’s temperamental opposite. More than any of the others he tends to start sentences with “I love Patty, but ... “

Watson could afford to reveal a little more of the character’s desperation in the second act.

Maura Vincent’s Jennifer is the one who’s tagged from the start as the compliant people-pleaser, and she melts away in one very funny confrontation with Patty. But later Jennifer turns out to be the strongest of the four, and Vincent makes the transition convincing.

Robert Lee Jacobs, the one holdover from the “Gun-Shy” cast, is playing a similar character and again offers a textbook blend of insecurity and bravado as Barry. At one point, Dresser puts him in a cape, which may sound silly, but Jacobs pulls it off.

Barbara Tarbuck delivers Lydia’s blithe put-downs expertly.

The play is so reliant on dialogue that it occasionally feels airless. Dwight Richard Odle’s blond-wood backdrop serves all locations but doesn’t create a sense of place. Still, Andrew Barnicle’s staging makes the most of the dialogue. This play has more extended passages and therefore feels less choppy than “Gun-Shy.”

Dresser is working in the tradition of Coward and Ayckbourn. While he hasn’t come close to their peaks, it appears that he may eventually approach hailing distance.

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“Wonderful World,” Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Aug. 26, 2 p.m. only. Ends Aug. 26. $38 to $45. (949) 497-2787. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.

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Maura Vincent: Jennifer

Cameron Watson: Max

Robert Lee Jacobs: Barry

Kathe Mazur: Patty

Barbara Tarbuck: Lydia

Written by Richard Dresser. Directed by Andrew Barnicle. Set and costumes by Dwight Richard Odle. Lighting by Donna Ruzika. Sound by David Edwards. Production stage manager Marti Stone.