‘Burning’s’ Timeless Theme Skewers Prejudice

Extricating Christopher Fry’s “The Lady’s Not for Burning” from its original setting--amid the witch trials of 15th century Europe--and dropping it into New England in the late 1940s is not as much of a conceptual stretch as it might appear. Despite the faux Shakespearean homages in this witty, intricately constructed verse comedy, Fry penned the play in 1949, and its anachronisms and subtextual modern sensibilities feel quite at home in the later era.

Moreover, in the Road Theatre Company’s well-performed and gorgeous-looking period staging, director Matt Kirkwood finds a valid thematic parallel in the witch-hunting paranoia of the McCarthy era, as a puritanical small-town mayor (Barry Thompson) acquiesces to mob rule in meting out harsh justice to an outspoken, free-spirited alchemist’s daughter (Kelly Godfrey).

The resetting conceit is not without compromises, however. Less of a parable from the distant past, the play’s broader satirical swipes at timeless prejudice and hypocrisy are hemmed in by the specificity of the political climate, especially in the somewhat labored initial setup.

The production hits its stride in the second act as a charming romantic comedy, with the fateful convergence of the witch’s fate with that of a world-weary soldier (K.C. Marsh) demanding to be hanged for a murder he claims he’s committed.

The chemistry between them makes a convincing case for the power of charm and intelligence to ease the burdens of humanity, with the story’s theme of spiritual alchemy embodied in the production itself.

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“The Lady’s Not for Burning,” Road Theatre Company, 5108 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends April 13. $15. (818) 759-3382. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.