'Scatter the Pigeons' a tonal mess at St. Charles' Steel Beam Theatre

“Scatter the Pigeons” - ★ ½

Remember that moment in both film versions of “The Producers” showing the shocked, mouths-agape reactions of first-night audiences attending the deliberately awful Broadway musical “Springtime for Hitler”?

Reactions to “Scatter the Pigeons” at Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles won't be quite in that league, but close enough in a play that swings wildly between crude comedy and what should be serious drama.

I'm guessing that playwright Gary McGowan intended his world-premiere play to bring a tragic nobility to the lives of poor folks scraping by on social security or from paycheck to paycheck. What emerges, however, is a cringeworthy endurance test in poorly structured playwriting, unbelievable character motivations and weak production values.

“Scatter the Pigeons” is set in and around a commons room at the fictional Citron Court Trailer Park in central California. Maddie Glover (Annie Slivinski) is resolute in throwing herself a 50th birthday party, even though she knows most of her neighbors will be elsewhere rallying to save their homes.

Maddie's party coincides with a city council meeting where a vote will be taken to demolish Citron Court and rezone it for a new mini-mall and likely luxury condominiums. Maddie says she fiercely cares for her neighbors, so it's odd that she won't postpone her party to protest alongside them.

Initially joining Maddie is Cole Bannister (Paul Anderson), Maddie's shifty beau who has a gambling problem. Neighbor Ester Sanchez (Sarafina Monteleone) is also there, and she nonchalantly blabs about her recent “oops pregnancy,” her dashed career ambitions of making more money as a stripper and being molested by an uncle.

Dotty widower Jenner Johnson (Bruce Worthel) later arrives with a haphazard homemade cake. He grosses everyone out with his loud slurping of spaghetti when he isn't floridly philosophizing on the difficultly of attaining “the American dream” or being maudlin as he walks down memory lane.

Ester's volatile husband, Ramon (Justin Schaller), disappears early on only to return to inflict some bizarrely motivated violence both on- and offstage (he actually says a toilet flush is an indication of his rage). Also in the mix is Stephanie Cervelli (Susan Carr), Maddie's hopelessly out-of-touch wealthy sister who fobs off an unused spa day gift certificate as a present. She only seems to care about money, even when violence erupts and her sister's life is at stake.

McGowan's whiplash-inducing script veers wildly from gross-out gags to tense drama. His clunky exposition and overwrought symbolism (the board game “Life” actually gets trotted out) are glaringly obvious. Meanwhile, audiences will have to apply their own metaphors to the play's title.

With such a weak script, it's no wonder that the cast seems adrift in trying to build credible characterizations. They aren't helped by Jen Johnson's ramshackle set design, which features a cheap-looking checkerboard floor of taped-together plastic sheets.

Steel Beam Theatre deserves praise for taking a chance on staging original material, but you have to question what the artistic leadership saw in “Scatter the Pigeons.”

<b>Location:</b> Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles, (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com

<b>Showtimes:</b> 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; through March 17

<b>Running time:</b> About 95 minutes; no intermission

<b>Tickets:</b> $28; $25 seniors; $23 students

<b>Parking:</b> Adjacent parking garage and area street parking

Rating: For mature teens and older; features violence and adult language