Morality play

The funny thing about satire is knowing when it’s meant to be funny ha-ha. Some satirical masterpieces by the likes of Jonathan Swift and George Orwell have few “jokes” as such, with their serious intent outweighing the impulse to make people laugh. Jamie Pachino’s The Return to Morality aims to be more overtly humorous, lampooning such targets as American publishing, politics and the cult of celebrity. In part, the play’s story hinges on the misunderstanding of satire, which proves ironic when Theatre in the Square’s Alley Stage has trouble setting the right comic tone. Some of the production’s overcooked acting fits uncomfortably with the play’s irksome qualities, although The Return to Morality has some timely relevance.

Frank Brennan plays Jewish college professor Arthur Kellerman, who, under the name “Arthur Kellog,” has written a book titled The Return to Morality, which calls for American renewal through such measures as the re-enslavement of African Americans and enforced conversion to Christianity.

The rub is that Arthur’s opus is a joke, meant to satirize our country’s most “horrendous policies, couched in the language of the evening news.” Watching the play, it’s unclear whether the book takes the form of an over-the-top manifesto or a novel, a la Catch 22’s Joseph Heller, but the point is that it’s easily mistaken for being sincere.

Arthur’s flashy, market-driven publisher Eduardo Le Beque (Thomas Liychik) suggests they capitalize on that confusion by releasing the book as nonfiction and have Arthur pretend to be an actual reactionary ideologue, a marketing ploy that will sell books and draw people’s attention to the author’s message. Arthur has misgivings but loses his better judgment when caught up in the media blitz.

Much of the first act has Arthur and his English wife Jo (Jackie Prucha) dealing with his new celebrity, from going on book tours to being coached on how to walk. Arthur takes to the hoax almost too well, making anti-Semitic gags on a late night show hosted by an Arsenio clone (Anthony Irons). But when people begin bombing abortion clinics and AIDS hospices in his name, Arthur spawns a movement beyond his control.

Frequently the least comic aspects of The Return to Morality are the most intriguing. The second act finds Arthur wrestling with how much responsibility an artist can take for the deeds of his audience, and a nicely written climactic speech at a major political gathering raises thoughtful questions about politics, character and trust.

The production frequently evokes the pointed political theater of the 1960s and employs the music of that era, starting, not surprisingly, with Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man.” The set’s only real adornment is a mural on the back wall of a flag-waving U.S. citizen, in the style of Soviet art. The media and political figures are inevitably clownish (there’s even a Barbara Walters impression), but the play thankfully comes short of using Nixon masks.

Much of the play finds Pachino aiming for easy targets like the shallowness of modern discourse, as when Arthur is cautioned to say “nothing too smart” on camera. The cast, most of who play multiple roles, try to zany things up, doing exaggerating accents and gestures. Liychik overdoes it at every opportunity, from the headset wearing Le Beque to a wacky radio host to the cackling bigwig of the Republican National Convention.

Wesley Usher has some pleasant turns as Arthur’s agent and a TV make-up artist, but one of her roles is a girl crucially aged 16, and the actress is simply miscast in the part, making a pivotal character fall utterly flat. Prucha makes a convincing “conscience” to the play, although her English accent tends to lose resolution. Brennan’s own flights of exasperation seem more suited to a domestic comedy.

The Return to Morality proves a timely work, especially with a presidential election two months away: I swear I heard an actor ad-lib a reference to George W. Bush’s “major league asshole” gaffe. That a book could have such disastrous consequences seems plausible. But, if anything, the playwright is too sympathetic to Arthur, contriving an unconvincing hopeful ending when something darker would pack more of a punch.

Theatre in the Square plans to use its Alley Stage for more provocative, experimental work than it would present on its main stage, and it makes a stronger statement by choosing to stage the shifty-structured, Republican-bashing Return to Morality than the play makes itself. The production shows, even more than it intends, how satire can be taken the wrong way.

The Return to Morality plays through Sept. 24 at Theatre in the Square’s Alley Stage at the corner of Powder Springs and Anderson streets, Marietta. Performances are at 8 p.m. Tues.-Sat. and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sun. $10-$15. 770-422-8369.