Katie Forgette’s “Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help” isn’t what you’d initially expect when you walk into the North Coast Repertory Theater for a performance.

Set designer Marty Burnett’s meticulously detailed 1973-era, working-class American Catholic household gives you the feeling that you’re in for a period piece that could be about faith, family, or even women’s liberation. Then the central character, 19-year-old Linda O’Shea, walks onto the stage and throws the audience for a loop.

“Incident,” which opened Saturday in a very funny, smart and well-cast production directed by Jenny Sullivan, is really about family, faith and women’s freedom. But it’s also a playful meta-twist on the classic conventions of theatrical memory stories.

Linda, played by the warm and engaging Samantha Gorjanc, speaks directly to and interacts with the audience, explaining that the stories remembered change with time and perspective (so…truth is very flexible). What the audience is about to see are her own faded but fond memories of a tumultuous time in the family’s life.

The O’Sheas are a family on the brink of change. Patriarch Mike O’Shea is a tough, conservative, hard-working mechanic. Mother Josephine (or “Jo”) is an overworked but loving housewife. Linda is a smart and secretly liberated college student on her way to Stanford University. And 13-year-old daughter Becky is an aspiring teenage detective. He shares their home with Jo’s sister Terri, who has recently separated from her husband.

When Jo asks her daughter Linda to give little sister Becky a lecture about the birds and the bees, their very frank (and very funny) discussion backfires on the parish priest and the family’s good standing in the church is suddenly at stake. . This “incident” is just one of many that will rock the family that week.

In addition to Linda’s frequent winks at the audience and the various characters demanding their own monologues, there is also a funny cast twist in this play. The versatile actor Tom Dugan plays not only the patriarch of the Mike family, but also the stern priest, Father Lovett, as well as the nosy church employee Betty.

Erin Noel Grennan is wonderfully understated as Jo, who keeps up appearances but struggles to keep her overflowing emotions under control. Shana Wride is wise and wry as Aunt Terri, a liberal woman looking for more joy and autonomy in her life. And Abbi Hoffpauir has a sweet, youthful innocence as Becky.

“Incident” features lighting by Matthew Novotny, costumes by Elisa Benzoni and sound by Evan Eason. The play, which runs for two hours with an intermission, has a brief scene with adult language about menstruation and sex, so it may not be suitable for pre-teens.

Describing “The Incident” is not easy, as the playwright hilariously dismantled the classic theater style that North Coast Rep is known for producing. Yes, it’s a family story set in the 1970s. But it’s so much more.

“Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help”

When: 20.00 on Wednesday and Thursday; 20:00 Friday; Saturdays 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays 2 and 7 p.m. Until November 24

Where: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach

Tickets: $60-$74

Phone: 858-481-1055

Online: northcoastrep.org

Originally published: Oct 28, 2024 at 12:26pm PDT