A knotty plot, an audience in stitches

All hail Kandis Chappell and Richard Doyle.

These two South Coast Repertory veterans are demonstrating anew why they’re among the most revered of Southern California’s stage actors.

But reverence is hardly the point of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Intimate Exchanges,” which Chappell and Doyle are driving at full throttle across South Coast’s Argyros Stage.

Comedy is the goal, with all the irreverence that entails. And Chappell and Doyle -- each playing three roles -- make it across the finish line in superb form.

The same actors did “Intimate Exchanges” at South Coast’s old Second Stage more than a decade ago. But only half of the play is the same this time.

The reason? After its brief opening scene, “Intimate Exchanges” is a complex web of alternatives from which producers can choose. There are two possible second scenes, set five seconds after the opening. Each of these is followed by another two possibilities, set five days later. Likewise, each of these four scenes branches into two different ways to begin the second act, set five weeks on. Finally, there are 16 possible closing scenes, each of which takes place five years after the narrative began.

Almost until intermission, this year’s production follows the same path as South Coast’s 1993 staging. We’re in the backyard of an English headmaster’s house, inhabited by the unhappily married Toby and Celia. Celia, disgusted with Toby’s drinking and cynicism, finds herself attracted to school groundskeeper Lionel, who has offered to tidy up their garden. The couple’s young maid, Sylvie, is disappointed to learn that Lionel no longer seems interested in her.

After intermission, this year’s production diverges considerably from 1993’s. Celia and Lionel have begun a catering business. For their debut, they’re serving tea to the VIPs under a tent at the school’s Sports Day. Here the actors add two more characters to their repertoire. Doyle plays Miles, chairman of the school’s board of governors. Chappell plays formidable Irene Pridworthy, influential governor.

Everything goes wrong. Lionel, who had bragged of being a master baker, produces a strangely shaped and inedible loaf of bread. When Celia tries to buy emergency provisions, the van breaks down. She leaves her handbag next to the broken-down van, and ... by the end of this uproarious scene, Celia has gone bonkers.

In 1993, the corresponding scene was set at a resort where Celia and Toby go for his health and where Lionel shows up as a waiter. If memory serves, it was more contrived and less hilarious than this year’s version.

This year’s brief final scene also feels a little contrived. But it’s easy to rationalize it on the grounds that a lot could have happened in the five years since the previous scene.

Only one final scene is offered, in contrast to the 1993 decision to alternate endings. This is hardly a significant loss. The feat of Ayckbourn’s intricate plotting won’t matter at all for most theatergoers, compared with the feat of Chappell’s and Doyle’s intricate performances.

Chappell, who also appeared in this play at the Old Globe in 1987, spans the wider age range. The maid Sylvie, girlishly twirling strands of her hair, is an immature kid next to Celia or the sturdy dowager Irene.

Celia is the heart of the play. Chappell takes her from bitter passivity through a frenetic nervous breakdown to the excessive polish of the final scene with nonstop assurance, creating a substantial character beneath all the comic business.

Doyle’s three characters are also far apart in moods. He’s funniest as the headmaster, whipping up a head of misanthropic steam in between drinks. His can-do Lionel is smoothly seductive in the first act, before he’s revealed as an incompetent, while his Miles is an ebullient twit.

Angela Balogh Calin’s precisely telling costumes come and go frequently, but director Martin Benson keeps the action snappy despite the quick changes backstage. The laughter seldom stops.

*

‘Intimate Exchanges’

Where: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: Tuesdays to Sundays, 7:45 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m.

Ends: March 28

Price: $27 to $55

Contact: (714) 708-5555

Running Time: 2 hours, 5 minutes

Kandis Chappell...Celia/Sylvie/Irene

Richard Doyle...Toby/Lionel/Miles

By Alan Ayckbourn. Directed by Martin Benson. Set by James Youmans. Costumes by Angela Balogh Calin. Lighting by York Kennedy. Sound by Drew Dalzell. Stage manager Jamie A. Tucker.