‘Lily Belle’s’ Blend of Satire Misfires

The youthful talents at the Pig Latin Embassy once again go awry in “Lily Belle’s Box,” a would-be political parody by company artistic director Stacia St.Owens.

As was tried (unsuccessfully) in the season opener “Chatterbox,” also by St.Owens, the cast strives for a campy panache--but any whimsicality, wit or structure is soon flattened by St.Owens’ ungainly vehicle.

The tenuous thread of plot concerns young Oklahoma heiress Lily Belle (Leah Wysong), who has been imprisoned since childhood by her greedy guardian Jetson (E. Kent Davis), an abusive right-wing fanatic who has raised his unwitting ward to be an ultra-feminized, sexually pure cash cow, completely cut off from the world.

Decadent infiltrators from the outside, Tolstoy (David Gautschy) and his “sister” Gemma (Erin Ryan) also determine to steal Lily Belle’s inheritance. A mysterious monster devours the naughty men, along with a federal agent who wanders in and skews the plot’s direction once again. Eventually, Lily Belle transforms from a slack-jawed bumpkin into an all-powerful terrorist. How? Why? There’s no apparent rationale behind anything in this blurred and benumbing onslaught.

Despite the efforts of director Joshua Wolf Coleman and his hard-working cast, this latest Pig Latin offering remains, from start to finish, pure swill.

* “Lily Belle’s Box,” Pig Latin Embassy, 6161 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Sept. 29. (No shows Labor Day weekend.) $10. (213) 962-6465. Running time: 2 hours.