Trials and tribulations

Too bad that so many potential titles for Amy Freed’s new comedy at South Coast Repertory were already taken by previous productions. “Hellzapoppin” and “Hell-Bent fer Heaven,” for example, convey the knockabout flavor of Freed’s play better than the chosen title, “Safe in Hell.”

The stodgy connotations of “Safe” shouldn’t deter anyone from seeing “Safe in Hell,” however. Stodgy it’s not.

Instead, it’s a breezy yet provocative riff on the Salem witch trials. Perhaps you thought there was nothing funny about that awful moment in American history? Think again.

Freed has quoted Arthur Miller saying that the trials could best be treated dramatically as absurdist black comedy. Miller, of course, wrote “The Crucible,” the classic play about the trials -- and definitely not an absurdist black comedy. It was in part a reaction to the trauma of the McCarthy era that was taking place as Miller wrote, and the humor of the situation may have been hard to grasp at the time.

Freed isn’t as interested in the naming of names as Miller was. Her primary target is Cotton Mather, the influential Boston minister who greased the wheels of the witch trials. He’s not even in “The Crucible.”

She conceives Mather as a profoundly insecure young man. He has lived in the intimidating shadow of his father, Increase Mather, the Puritan pastor who not only ran North Church in Boston but also was the president of Harvard. As the play begins, Increase returns from three years of negotiations in England on behalf of the Massachusetts colony. Cotton has been subbing for his old man, but Increase immediately reclaims the pulpit of the church from his son.

Cotton has other anxieties as well. Unlike his father, the younger Mather has never truly felt the presence of God. Deep inside, he actually feels a little closer to the devil. He tries to fake the requisite signs of intimacy with God, but his father sees through his feeble attempts and wants to consign Cotton to administrative tasks, far from the bully pulpit.

Unfortunately for just about everyone, one of those tasks is to investigate reports of witchcraft emanating from Salem.

“Safe in Hell” doesn’t ignore the victims of the trials. It examines the free-spirited Salem preacher George Doakes, a man who acts suspiciously like a Quaker. He leads services outdoors and tries to reach out to the local Indians.

Freed makes gentle fun of Doakes as much as she makes harsher fun of Mather. Not to be hung up on names, Doakes can casually refer to God as “whatever,” much to the distress of his unhappy wife. He’s oblivious to his slave Tituba’s cynicism and to the treacherous brattiness of his daughters, who eventually decide to testify against him. As Cotton Mather examines the young women of Salem, his sense of communion with the devil increases. Yet in public, he focuses instead on the devil that’s supposedly within Doakes.

The play is rife with references to contemporary American culture. Most of these produce audible guffaws. Some of the laughs arise from the mere placement of such material within a context that is generally regarded as so serious. But the humor isn’t mindless; Freed clearly wants her audience to think about parallels with events in our own times.

In a Times essay, Freed made explicit a comparison between the Mathers and the Bushes. Fortunately for the long-term health of the play, this isn’t obvious in the script except in one reference to “Mr. President.”

Director David Emmes guides the performances away from anything so specific. Robert Sella’s Cotton Mather is more epicene than macho. He seethes with hidden resentments and takes pleasure in esoteric mumbo jumbo. Simon Billig’s Doakes is closer to the spirit of a good ol’ boy, projecting an affable spirit of clueless enthusiasm. Graeme Malcolm’s Increase Mather is a ruthlessly domineering presence, beginning with a sermon in which he breaks the fourth wall and chastises members of the audience.

Colette Kilroy as the long-suffering Mrs. Doakes and Tracey A. Leigh as the even longer-suffering Tituba get their laughs. The reliable Hal Landon Jr. plays an Englishman gone native, now posing as an Indian.

Some of the Indian material might strike some as politically incorrect, but the context is so daffy -- these Indians appear to have spent some time in Hawaii -- that it would be hard to take any of it seriously enough to be offended. It helps that no one else is depicted realistically.

The backstage credits are all first-rate, with some exceptionally clever touches by sound designer David Budries. The curtain call, for example, begins with the strains of “Sympathy for the Devil” -- a perfect little cap to this frisky historical burlesque.

*

‘Safe in Hell’

Where: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2:30 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.

Ends: May 9

Price: $27 to $55

Contact: (714) 708-5555

Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Robert Sella...Cotton Mather

Graeme Malcolm...Increase Mather

Simon Billig...Rev. Doakes

Colette Kilroy...Mrs. Doakes

Tracey A. Leigh...Tituba

Hal Landon Jr....Indian Roger

Madison Dunaway...Abigail

Don Took...Judge

Elisa Richardson...Little Mary

Suzanne Jamieson...Martha

By Amy Freed. Directed by David Emmes. Set by Ralph Funicello. Costumes by Nephelie Andonyadis. Lighting by Peter Maradudin. Sound by David Budries. Choreographer Sylvia C. Turner. Stage manager Randall K. Lum.