This revival of Daniel Sullivan's farce about a horrific production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol takes an ironic twist thanks to several poor performances and clunky direction. The irony is heightened because the only time the Lonny Chapman cast properly translates Sullivan's witty script is when they purposefully perform poorly in the play-within-the-play. The rest of the two-hour production is loaded with missteps.
Problems — primarily numerous dropped or bungled lines — appear within the first few minutes of the story, which takes place entirely in the house of a struggling community theatre. Stage manager M.J. (Jo Shannon), trying to get rehearsal for Christmas Carol started, meets a naive wannabe actor, Wayne (Doug Haverty), who has come to audition for the theatre's director, Zorah (Kady Douglas). In the farce tradition, Wayne is mistaken as an inspector for the National Endowment for the Arts, and the cast and crew bend over backward to please him — even putting him in the show — hoping to receive a grant that will keep the theatre from having to close. The cast-within-the-cast includes Larry (Larry Eisenberg), who as Scrooge looks for any opportunity to add political messages to the dialogue. Walter (Disraeli Ellison), who is African American, is cast — portraying the ghosts — to add a multicultural dimension to the company. Luther (Jonathan Engstrom) is Tiny Tim, and doddering Sidney (Klair Bybee) portrays Jacob Marley.
Sullivan's script remains entertaining and hardly needs the pop culture references that have been added. But most of the comedy is lost because of the dropped lines. Shannon is the major culprit. At this performance, she fumbled more than half her lines. During the first few minutes Shannon is paired with Haverty, whose tone never seems to match what he's saying, which makes for uncomfortable viewing. Add Douglas, who seems as equally lost as Zorah, and Inspecting Carol digs a hole from which it can't escape. It appears that directors Judith E. and Chris Winfield spent most of the rehearsal time on the comic climax, which, thanks to Eisenberg's strong physical comedy and solid timing, finally elicits a few of the many laughs made available by Sullivan. The rest of the time, actors seems unsure where to stand, when to speak, and what to say.
Presented by and at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood. Dec. 5-Jan. 11, 2009. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. (818) 700-4878 or www.lcgrt.com.