Shoggoths on the Veldt

It's probably not a big surprise that "Shoggoths on the Veldt" is a very weird play, (a Shoggoth being a blobby, shapeshifting monster), but not in any of the ways you might expect.

This pulp horror farce at Redwood City's Dragon Theater loosely spoofs the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft's neurotic, overwritten and casually racist 20th-century horror stories didn't garner much fame in his lifetime, but in the decades since he's become shockingly influential, especially in geeky internet culture.

Playwright Cameron McNary previously penned "Of Dice and Men," so this is a decisively on-brand follow-up. In "Shoggoths," Lady Euphonia Riggstone (played by the incredibly resilient Alika Spencer-Koknar) assembles a doomed expedition to an unspecified African territory after her fianc� never returns from the wilderness.

She's not interested in rescuing or avenging him, she actually just finds his ghost somewhat annoying and hopes finding some clue about his fate will properly exorcise him.

That's a very reedy Ronald Feichtmeir as Melford Pumbleshire, the unfortunately departed explorer who can't stop haunting his ex. Note that "Feichtmeir" would have made a pretty good name for the character too.

Explaining any more of the plot would involve spoilers, although this is the kind of show where spoilers might not actually matter. The cast list does include a role called "God of the Bloody Tongue," so that should tell you how well the expedition is probably going to go.

Several things about this setup seem odd. The characters are Victorian Londoners, despite the fact that Lovecraft wrote chiefly about Americans, and the New England settings of his stories are a critical part of his legacy.

Similarly, the word "veldt" is right in the title but the show takes place mostly in the jungle, which can't help but feel like an oversight.

But it soon becomes clear that these sorts of details are, well, mostly just details, as "Shoggoths" and director Max Koknar are in it for the laughs and high spirits. Close reading is not a particularly rewarding exercise.

This means that the play only barely resembles any of the stories it's adapting, but maybe that's a good thing. For example, whereas Lovecraft seemed to scarcely be aware that women exist, "Shoggoths" puts Alika Spencer-Koknar's redoubtable wit on center stage at almost all times.

Tasi Alabastro, who just got done playing a curiously sensitive-seeming Macbeth at the Dragon, appears here as "Famed Explorer Welton Mountcrag," a dashing pulp hero who turns out to be a cringing fraud.

Alabrastro's hapless, clownlike expressions and vocal dithers are a great contrast against Spencer-Koknar's unflinching straightwoman routine. The play doesn't seem to know what it really wants to do with him once the initial gag plays out. The role just peters away after a while.

The titular shoggoth appears as a series of intruding tentacles that creep out from behind the scenery now and then. This always feels like the setup for a really good joke but one never quite shows up, beyond the fact that the monster is billed as "herself" in the program.

"Shoggoths" looks good, especially the endlessly creative costumes by Kathleen Qiu, and the gag with the shadow puppets.

It's hard to reserve affection for a play that stops for an extended slow-motion fight scene and then introduces a casually nihilistic German cultist character who's only interested in the apocalypse for aesthetic reasons.

The truth is though, "Shoggoths on the Veldt" is just too long by half. The spirited whimsy, flippant humor, and ingenious casting are fun at times, but the gags run out by intermission and the action gets increasingly self-indulgent as the show strains to fill up time.

With pruning, this could be a really spry and lively exercise. As it stands it's mostly the sum of its flaws, although those imperfections are not without charm.

"Shoggoths on the Veldt" plays through June 2 at the Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway in Redwood City. For tickets and information, call 650-493-2006 or visit www.DragonProductions.net