Review: Few sparks in ‘On the Razzle’ at Theatre West

Tom Stoppard has always balanced his lambent intellectualism with a certain cheeky playfulness, all the while toying with conventional notions of dramaturgy and breaking new ground in the theatrical form.

In “On the Razzle,” first produced in the early 1980s, Stoppard gleefully abandons any pretense of intellectual heft. A no-holds-barred farce, “Razzle” combines Stoppard’s typically deft wordplay with groan-worthy puns of a notably naughty stripe.

It’s hard to say why the play’s production at Theatre West doesn’t reach the level of comical lunacy that is so obviously required.

Certainly, co-directors Pete Parkin and John Gallogly have assembled a cast of game and crisply well-prepared actors who go through their frenetic paces with nary a hitch.

Perhaps it’s simply that the sheer broadness of the performances, combined with the sweeping broadness of the material, add up to a production almost completely lacking in the underlying subtlety and craft that would leaven the silliness.

Stoppard based his play on an 1842 Viennese comedy that was later adapted -- twice -- by Thornton Wilder, the latter adaptation of which became the basis for the musical, “Hello, Dolly!”

Other than the character of Dolly -- Thornton’s later innovation, missing in this mix -- the familiar archetypes remain durably true to form. Chief among the sprawling cast are the overbearingly pompous grocer, Herr Zangler, and his two naif assistants who seize the opportunity of their boss’ day-long absence to hie off to Vienna on a romantic adventure. Of course, the many parties in question soon intersect, with farcical consequences.

As the ludicrously self-important Zangler, facile Andrew Walker mingles pomposity with a hint of a twinkle. It’s a comical spark -- the wily wink and sly nudge -- that is all too infrequent in this workmanlike but unexciting production.

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“On the Razzle,” Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Nov. 2. $25. (323) 851-7977. www.theatrewest.org. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes