Uneven study

Oh, the eternal dilemma of the woman in love: Does she mask her intelligence and hobble her strength to keep from intimidating the guy? Or does she refuse to compromise, come what may?

This predicament is studied anew in “Sex Parasite,” a play by Jessica Goldberg that imagines the struggles faced by Olive Schreiner (1855-1920), whose social tracts influenced the early movement for women’s rights.

Already a much-produced playwright at 31, Goldberg is working with some ambitious ideas here. But her show presents daunting challenges in its introductory production through the Mark Taper Forum’s Taper, Too play development series.

Set in London in 1888, the story unfolds in a drawing room, which, in Yevgenia Nayberg’s design, is enveloped by bookshelves that stretch from floor to towering ceiling of the Ivy Substation in Culver City. The shelves hint at the intellectual vigor of the late Victorian period, as scientific principles were applied to nearly every facet of life.

Schreiner, born to missionary parents in South Africa, gained access to England’s literary and intellectual elite after publication of her novel “The Story of an African Farm.” Goldberg imagines the interplay that Schreiner (played by Kirsten Potter) might have had with some of the revolutionary thinkers of her day, including Havelock Ellis (Liam Christopher O’Brien), who would go on to co-write one of the first scientific books to treat homosexuality not as a pathological condition but as an innate disposition, and Karl Pearson (Erik Sorensen), a mathematician, scientific philosopher and theorist in the now-distasteful field of mating control known as eugenics.

In Chay Yew’s staging, Schreiner -- dressed in a mannish suit -- catches Pearson’s eye even before they are introduced at an early meeting of the Men and Women’s Club, dedicated to discussion of the sexes’ social roles. Though passion smolders between them, Schreiner is soon restraining her coltish personality to keep from scaring away the dashing but stiff Pearson.

Aside from physical attraction, Schreiner seeks Pearson’s company because she believes that women and men must work together to achieve equality between the sexes, in hopes that this, in turn, might foster a more complete sense of spiritual, intellectual and sexual union.

However it is achieved, though, Schreiner’s ultimate wish is to see women “develop themselves.” In this, she bears a strong resemblance to the present-day women in other of Goldberg’s plays, including “Stuck” and “Refuge.” The concern with social forces, meanwhile, also mirrors Goldberg’s “Good Thing,” a 2001 Taper, Too presentation.

But problems are legion in “Sex Parasite.” First, there’s that title, which is just plain off-putting, even though it’s derived from Schreiner’s theory of “sex-parasitism” -- of women being trusted with so few productive tasks that they become mere social parasites.

Then there’s the fact that Goldberg provides too little context for today’s theatergoer to understand who these historical figures were. To fully appreciate the story, patrons may need to scour the Internet for more information. The production’s biggest problem, though, is its tone. While Schreiner emerges as a fully dimensional person, the other six characters are mere caricatures. A comically inflated staging makes them seem still more cartoonish.

Not quite a drama and not quite a comedy, “Sex Parasite” hovers in limbo, undercutting what could have been a sharp, scintillating study of Schreiner and her mission to challenge ingrained ways of thinking.

*

‘Sex Parasite’

Where: Taper, Too at the Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City

When: Wednesdays-Sundays, 8 p.m.; also Saturdays, 2 p.m.

Ends: April 18

Price: $25-$30

Contact: (213) 628-2772

Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes