‘Lettice & Lovage’ Returns With Insightful Approach

A spunky revival of “Lettice & Lovage” at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum has a solid grasp on the complex thematic crosscurrents in Peter Shaffer’s sharp-edged comedy, but opening-night jitters also demonstrated the need for polishing. Fortunately, the problems--dropped lines and some timing lapses--were symptomatic of premature birth rather than inherent interpretive flaws.

Distractions notwithstanding, Heidi Helen Davis’ insightful staging illuminates this unusually playful variant on Shaffer’s signature theme--the gifted outsider pitted against oppressive mediocrity. Taking up the battle as the feisty historical tour guide who embellishes her tedious scripted lectures with increasingly fanciful anecdotes, Ellen Geer brings an endearing fragility to Lettice Douffet, a fiery crusader peeping out from demure petticoats.

Her opponent, embodied in supervisor Lotte Schoen (Earnestine Phillips), is a modern value system that ranks soulless accuracy above poetic imagination. Yet unlike her counterparts in Shaffer’s dramas--the resentfully untalented composer in “Amadeus” or the craven psychiatric apologist for social norms in “Equus”--Schoen ends up switching allegiances rather than destroying the genius that challenges the status quo.

In the process, both characters undergo a heartfelt, if quirky, metamorphosis that even ensnares a bewildered lawyer (Alan Blumenfeld, in a finely nuanced comic supporting turn) who comes to their defense when their harmless defiance of convention runs afoul of the law. In Shaffer’s grim universe, it’s nice to see the good guys come out on top for a change.

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* “Lettice & Lovage,” Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Road, Topanga. Saturdays, 8 p.m., through Sept. 19; Sundays, 7:30 p.m. through July 26. Ends Sept. 19. $12-$17. (310) 455-3723. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.