‘Beyond Therapy’ a Little Dated but a Hilarious Romp

SAN DIEGO â€”  SAN DIEGO--Bruce and Prudence are New York neurotics looking for companionship in the classified ads. Their psychobabbling therapists, Charlotte and Stuart, are downright crazy.

And Bruce’s gay lover, Bob, has an Auntie Mame-like mother who breaks into song whenever she wants to express disapproval or assert control, which is quite often.

Such is the premise of “Beyond Therapy,� a wickedly funny and farcical take on love and sex and coping in the early 1980s that opened Saturday at the Globe Theatres here.

The pace is breathless, the acting is uniformly first rate, and the one-liners litter the floor like confetti on New Year’s Eve.

“I like to cry,� Bruce says upon first meeting Prudence.

“I don’t think men should cry unless something falls on them,� she replies.

Written by Christopher Durang, “Beyond Therapy� pushed the envelope two decades ago in frankness and titillation-spiced humor.

Today--in the era of Fox and WB sitcoms--it seems less daring, and some of the references are woefully dated. Does anyone still discuss Dyan Cannon and Cary Grant?

Still, “Beyond� is a romp where everyone is too clever and verbal for their own good and the comedy can sting or, at least, embarrass.

The strategy in “Beyond� is that nothing succeeds like excess. If one reference to premature ejaculation is funny, six are better. If one phone call from Bob’s unseen mother is funny, several are hilarious.

Bruce is divorced and lives with Bob. Now he wants it all.

“I want you and children, and occasionally Bob,� Bruce tells Prudence.

Anna Cody as Prudence and Matthew Montelongo as Bruce are the classic mismatched couple from hell: drawn to one another but given to analyzing and announcing each nuance of feeling. Think of Lucy and Ricky by way of the Bundys from “Married ... With Children.�

Prudence’s therapist, played by Paul Michael Valley, is a lounge lizard and serial seducer so slimy and manipulative and obvious that you can’t help but love him. As Bob, Adam Edwards is delightfully devious and pitiful.

But the award for inspired nuttiness goes to Alma Cuervo as Bruce’s therapist, Charlotte. She dresses like an aging gypsy bag lady, hugs her Snoopy doll and suffers occasional vocabulary breakdowns and stammering spells.

Her dissertation on the meaning of certain conjugal positions is a showstopper. “Couples who prefer the missionary position may wish to do anthropological work in Ghana,� she pronounces.

In context, the line makes perfect sense.

*

“Beyond Therapy,� written by Christopher Durang, at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage of the Globe Theatres complex in Balboa Park through Oct. 20. Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m; Sunday at 7 p.m. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. Tickets: $35 to $45. Box office: (619) 239-2255.

Anna Cody...Prudence

Alma Cuervo...Charlotte

Adam Edwards...Bob

Matthew Montelongo...Bruce

Javen Tanner...Andrew

Paul Michael Valley...Stuart

Directed by Brendon Fox, costume designer Holly Poe Durbin, sound designer Lindsay Jones, scenic designer Anna Louizos, lighting designer Chris Rynne, stage manager Raul Moncada.