DRAMATURGY FAIL

The difference between a good idea and a good script is the execution of the writing.

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Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas

(Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles; 522 seats; $75 top)

By BOB VERINI

'Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas'

A Geffen Playhouse presentation of a play in two acts by Blair Singer. Directed by John Rando.

Matthew Modine - Matthew Modine
Whimberly North - Peri Gilpin
Jeffrey, Pierre
du Perrier Jouet - French Stewart
Abraham - Edward Padilla
Santos Panchos,
Puppeteer - Mark Damon Espinosa
Angel - Reggie De Leon

One really wants to like "Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas," a world premiere play by Blair Singer ("Weeds"). Modine seems a good sport to play a washed-up version of himself aching to rejoin the A-list, and the notion of his vaulting back to stardom via a self-aggrandizing do-gooder cause is promising. But a premise is all they've got as the evening declines into snoozeworthiness. Most TV series take three seasons to jump the shark, but in the theater it can happen in 20 minutes, and so it goes at the Geffen.