A Jewish defendant (Steve Lipinsky), an anti-Semitic defense attorney (Steve Gunderson), a gay prosecutor (Matthew Henerson) whose boytoy Bernard (John Altieri) keeps calling him at work, and an easily distracted judge (Peter Van Norden) with allergies and memory problems who keeps asking his bailiff (Ruff Yeager) whether he took his pill. What’s going on here?

It’s Romance, David Mamet’s first foray into farce, directed by Sam Woodhouse and playing through May 21 at San Diego Repertory Theatre.

Mamet, the profane ethicist, for many of whose characters life seems to be a struggle between private freedom and public responsibility, moves from the darkness of Glengarry Glen Ross and Oleanna to a cockeyed view of the American legal system (wacky enough without his help).

Not much concerned with plot – we don’t even know what the defendant, a chiropractor, is accused of, though it seems to have something to do with a chiropodist and Hawaii – Mamet uses the trial as framework to skewer his targets, among them race, sexuality, religion, judicial corruption and war in the Middle East. In fact, the trial begins on the day Middle East peace talks begin in town, preceded by a parade that causes tardiness and prompts this comment from the judge: “Peace. Is that not the theme of the week?”

“Yes,” says the prosecutor, “the theme of the weak. The theme of the strong is truth.”

Other courtroom digressions cover such topics as cheese sandwiches, Episcopalians (“What’s that?” says the defendant. “A Catholic with a Volvo.”), Shakespeare as a Jew or a Christian – or maybe gay (“No Christian can write that good,” says the defendant).

In one scene, the defense attorney admonishes his client for taking the stand against his advice, since the attorney knows his client is guilty.

“Why did you go to law school if you didn’t want to lie?” asks his client. “I’m paying you to lie.”

“A pittance,” says the attorney. “And I have to sit next to you, you sick fuck.”

Van Norden (two-time Scrooge in the Rep’s annual A Christmas Carol) makes the most of the drugged-out judge, whose allergy meds make him sleepy, and whose lengthy and irrelevant digressions drag out the proceedings but lead to a suitably wacky denouement.

It’s a hilarious show with pitch-perfect performances all around, almost stolen by Altieri’s leopard print bikini-clad Bernard, who burns the roast and perhaps his chance at love.

David Mamet burst onto the American theater scene in the ’70s with a trio of plays, including American Buffalo. Since then, he has branched out from playwright to screenwriter and film director, won Tony, Pulitzer (Glengarry Glen Ross), Obie and Drama Desk awards for theater and been nominated for two Oscars (screenplays for The Verdict and Wag the Dog).

His plays are mostly savage, elemental, and emotionally and verbally brutal, exposing people at their least attractive. It’s fear and loathing in his courtroom as well, but deep down Romance is pretty shallow. Still, Mamet is Mamet, and profanity and silliness aside, he manages to make Romance savagely – and extremely – funny.

Romance plays through May 21 at the San Diego Repertory Theatre. Shows Wednesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. For tickets, call (619) 544-1000 or visit www.sandiegorep.com.

Adam Rapp writes terrific prose. Perhaps best known as author of several dark novels for young adults, he says, “The stuff I write about in novels tends to be things I think about during the day.”

Also author of 28 plays, he describes that process as “this fever thing,” adding, “The stuff I write about in plays tends to be the stuff that keeps me up at night … so there’s a kind of nocturnal haunting to my playwriting.”

Haunting is a good word for Rapp’s Nocturne, playing through May 27 at New Village Arts Theatre. The play, essentially a monologue by a character identified only as The Present Son (Francis Gercke), opens with this startling line (delivered calmly while sitting quietly in a chair): “Fifteen years ago, I killed my sister.”

He goes on to describe the circumstances (his brakes failed on the way home from work) and the devastating effects the death had on The Son’s family and himself as they try to survive the loss. In the background, four other characters position themselves to illustrate the story: The Son (Past), played by director Joshua Everett Johnson, The Mother (Kathryn Herbruck), The Father (George Soete) and The Red-Haired Girl (Monique Fleming).

The Mother, watching helplessly from the kitchen window, cannot cope and spends the rest of her life obsessively making potholders in a mental institution, leaving The Father alone. For The Son, “the only thing that endures is an overwhelming blankness.”

The Son moves to New York, where his emotional blankness continues. He works in an East Village bookstore, gets a book published and finds a girlfriend (The Red-Haired Girl), with whom he finds himself impotent. Called back home 15 years later when his father is in the last stages of fatal illness, he finds the family Steinway jammed into a corner (The Son had been a promising pianist; Grieg’s “Nocturne” considered his best piece) and his father inert in an easy chair.

Rapp’s forte is description. Listen to this about the family house: “We live in a blond house … inside we have infinite Formica, as if it was archaeologically excavated and the house built around it.”

Of grief: “Grief does not expire. It simply changes temperature.” And of the piano: “It waits for you without pursuit.”

This fine, evocative writing gave me the overwhelming urge to read, not see it. Reciting the story seems to me a structural weakness; coupled with Gercke’s emotionally flat interpretation, it begins to sound monotonous before the end of the first act.

Theatricality is enhanced by Kristianne Kurner’s fine sets, which give the audience somewhere for the eye to alight. But a piece as static as Nocturne is a problem waiting to happen, and unfortunately it happens here.

Nocturne runs through May 27 at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 7:00 p.m., with a matinee Sunday, May 21, at 2:00 p.m. For tickets, call (760) 433-3245 or visit www.newvillagearts.org.

Everybody knows a serial killer is a great subject for musical comedy. If you doubt me, check out that perennial favorite Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.

Now North Coast Repertory Theatre brings us the Southern California premiere of No Way to Treat a Lady, Douglas Cohen’s musical version of the 1968 film based on the 1964 novel by William Goldman. The show plays through June 4, directed by SDSU’s Rick Simas.

Detective Morris Brummell (Nick Spear) and wannabe-famous actor Christopher “Kit” Gill (Randall Dodge) share a problem: mom. Morris’ mother, Flora (Susan Denaker), very much alive, still makes his lunch, tells him what to do and opines that “Jews should not be cops” (especially since Morris’ brother is a physician). Kit’s mom (also Denaker) is tougher to deal with: She’s dead, but still telling him he’ll never make it as an actor, and that should he persist down this path, the only measure of success is an article in The New York Times, preferably on the front page. Morris and Kit summarize their respective problems charmingly in the universal song “I Need A Life.”

Needing to please dear old mom, Kit skips from auditions to murder, doubtless the quicker path to infamy. He starts with Mrs. Sullivan (Denaker).

Morris, assigned to the case, shows up to interview neighbors, one of whom is the lovely young Sarah Stone (Rebecca Spear), who seems to need a life as much as Morris does. The two make a date. Despite her observation that Morris is “Not much on looks/Not much of a dresser/His every move lacks grace,” she concludes “So Far, So Good.”

Dodge has the best of this show, as most of the rest of the plot consists of Kit murdering in various giggle-inducing guises, including an Arthur Murray dance teacher (student Carmella, played again by Denaker, just wants to tango), a waiter at Le Dernier Repas restaurant and a hooker (yep, female). But he’s got competition from Denaker’s five splendidly played roles.

There are two great scenes here. One is Sarah’s triumphant meeting of mom Flora, proving her assertion that “she’ll love me,” despite Morris’ conviction that “the most we can hope for is tolerance.” Sarah manages to out-Jewish Flora, to Morris’ shock and admiration.

The second is Kit’s abovementioned cross-dressing scene with Sadie (Denaker). Dodge is a less-than-lovely woman and should not make this a habit, but it’s a great scene.

The acting and singing here are terrific, though Nick Spear’s voice seems slight compared to the others. But Marty Burnett’s set is nothing short of phenomenal. He’s got quick scene changes on a turntable that makes it look effortless. Bravo, Marty!

Cohen’s music is pleasant, mostly of the fast-talking patter song variety, clever enough but utterly forgettable. The instrumentalists could stand to tone down the volume a bit; they occasionally drown out the singers.

No Way to Treat a Lady is a pleasant enough evening of theater, if not one you’ll remember long.

No Way to Treat a Lady plays through June 4 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 7:00 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. An extra show plays Wednesday, May 31, at 7:00 p.m. For tickets, call (888) 776-6278 or (858) 481-1055 or visit www.northcoastrep.org.