‘Comedy’ is lacking in heart, soul

The Lamb’s Players’ new production, “A Divine Comedy,” has nothing to do with Dante’s classic story-poem. It’s also not divine, and it’s just barely a comedy.

Dennis Hassell’s script, receiving its U.S. premiere after debuting in his home city of Toronto, aims to be a farce about a young pastor, fresh out of the seminary, trying to save a church. Facing a deadline to raise membership to a certain level or the church will be razed for condominiums, he’s handicapped by a board consisting of wacky characters. It’s a plot offering considerable potential.

But good farce has to be grounded in some reality, and there’s little of that here. Mostly, the proceedings amount to silliness for its own sake, making the whole enterprise pretty tiresome for anyone not extremely tolerant of painfully contrived situations and wordplay.

For instance, the pastor is named Shepard, his adversary is named Lobo (wolf and sheep -- get it?) and board members have names like Hellen Dalmation, Studley Mudd and Karl Marx. The last, unsurprisingly, leads to jokes about his real name being Leon (Guess the surname. Right!) and Karl proclaiming comradeship with Shepard as “We are the Marx brothers.” His wife, also on the board, is a bosomy blond named -- ta da -- Barbie. She tells Shepard her husband is “impertinent,” which she thinks was caused by him being “castrated” by a “rabbit” when he was 8 days old.

To boost church attendance, the board tries a “creative” service, which involves such improbabilities as visitors having to wear tall feathered hats, and Barbie delivering a fractured version of the 23rd “Pa-salm.” Many in the opening-night audience found such devices rollicking, but even their laughter quieted during the second act, as absurdity gives way to inanity. A fire has destroyed the church (Barbie asks “Was it arsenic?”), and the desperate leaders decide that rebuilding will require not only the insurance money but a membership-recruiting barbecue. Deus ex machina gets raised to a whole new level as everyone, even Barbie, becomes resourceful, and whatever they need immediately appears, supplied by unseen neighbors.

Director Robert Smyth has added some physical shtick and keeps the pace brisk, but neither approach overcomes the script’s shortcomings. The acting, like the story, tends toward cartoonish, but even a cast more skilled at farce would have trouble making these characters more than caricatures.

The tech work is generally good. Mike Buckley provides the proper setting of church-turned-embers, and Jeanne Reith’s outlandish costumes, particularly Barbie’s pink-heavy ensembles and Karl’s TV-pitchman garishness, fit the overall theme of wretched excess.

For more than 30 years, the Lamb’s Players have built a reputation with a multi-talented repertory and a wise selection of worthy plays. “Divine Comedy” displays neither quality.

*

‘A Divine Comedy’

Where: Lamb’s Players’ Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado

When: Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 4:30 and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Ends: May 18

Price: $20-$40

Contact: (619) 437-0600

Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes