THEATER REVIEW:Sordid yet solid

There are families “” and then there are families. One squeaky clean bunch lives in St. Louis around the turn of the last century; another inhabits a small town in Texas and makes TV’s “Mama’s Family” look like “Mr. Rogers’ Neighbor- hood.”

The latter clan comprise the convoluted characters of “Sordid Lives” playwright Del Shores’ “black comedy about white trash” now being gleefully staged by the Gallimaufry Performing Arts company in Laguna Beach. Many of the same actors performed in Gallimaufry’s “Meet Me in St. Louis” earlier, but you’d never recognize them.

Up until now, Shores has been most notable locally for his Texas-themed chuckler “Daddy’s Dyin’, Who’s Got the Will?” That play was driven by plot and character development. “Sordid Lives” functions on pure outrageousness played at high velocity.

As staged by Gallimaufry artistic director Steve Josephson, “Sordid Lives” has a few hoots and a holler or two, but the time and energy required to set up these moments often negates the comic effect. A bit of judicious excising would result in a tighter, and even funnier, production.

The play’s story line, such as it is, revolves around the unfortunate death of a local lady who, during a motel tryst with a married double-amputee Vietnam veteran, had tripped on his wooden legs and bashed her head on the bathroom sink. That might be the funniest scene in the show, if only it were enacted rather than merely discussed and rehashed.

The lady’s survivors “” daughters LaVonda and Latrelle, and sister Sissy “” occupy the first scene, along with the vet’s scorned wife Noleta, and they set the tone of the play.

The flashy, trashy LaVonda (Martha Davis for the opening weekend, but Meredith Woodson-Hubbard for the remainder of the run) is a perfect contrast to the more conventional and uptight Latrelle (Julie Gibson Josephson).

Sissy (Karen Rymar) has just quit smoking and is in the throes of nicotine fits, while Noleta (Dana Cook) has bloody revenge on her mind.

This ignites a painfully funny second scene as Cook and Davis go all “Thelma and Louise” on the straying husband (Rich Wordes) and his buddies (Gary Krantz and Johnny Lacy as brothers Wardell and Odell) in the town bar, where Carol Robinson (Karen Plomgren, Oct. 13) is an attractively inebriated barfly.

The third segment, subtitled “The Dehomosexualization of Brother Boy,” is played out in the mental institution where Latrelle’s flaming queen of a son (Gregg Barnette, who’ll be replaced by Mark Miller Oct. 12) is living out his life as Tammy Wynette. Sexy shrink Pamela Burrus does her best to alter Brother Boy’s lifestyle, but to no avail.

Finally, the family gathers at the funeral in the last scene, joined by another gay relative (Christian Marriner, but Cameron Denny in tonight’s performance), who opens each of the play’s four scenes with a segment in his psychiatrist’s office. Lisa Morrice also strums her guitar and warbles appro- priately as each segment opens.

Gallimaufry’s actors bring enormous flash and dash to the trash of their characters’ lifestyles, with Josephson, Davis, Wordes, Barnette and Burrus serving up particularly effective performances. As social satire, Shores’ comedy penetrates the territory normally populated by “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” only with a country music beat.