It was a Sunday night and the Oscars, a Kings game and the small matter of a war were being broadcast on live TV. As I sat through the California Stage Company’s production of “Better Places to Go,” I realized I had better places to go. Live theater can be either a thrill or an agonizing exercise in squeamishness. “This was neither, but it leans towards the latter.

“Better Places to Go” is staged professionally and the majority of the cast is experienced and dedicated to their craft. Susan Madden as Lucille, Therese Llanes as Judy and Vanessa Menendez as Candace are funny, endearing and entertaining. They are on top of their lines and create the appropriate emotions with their movements and gestures.

The rest of the cast seems unsure of themselves. Some talented actors fade amid inexperience of their colleagues. Tara Henry as Rosie is great as an evil, no-nonsense truck stop waitress who would be even better with a script and not a grab bag of random violence and ill-intentions.

With two robberies, a stabbing, a shooting, a suicide, a wedding broken up at the last minute by its maid of honor and, to top it off, an alien abduction, “Places” really packs it in.

Alas, it is simply too much. The production encounters problems because it cannot decide between being a gritty drama and a goofball comedy. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place is tough. But being in the middle of this dilemma is just plain weird. Few of the characters from the first act make it into the second alive. Those that do are the least entertaining in the production.

Eduardo Ambriz Draven plays a busboy, but you could take your pick of any busboy at any restaurant in town and probably get a better performance.

As a central character, he could try some real emotion (overly dramatic gesticulation and burying your head in your hands doesn’t cut it) and be especially quicker with lines that are supposed to be comebacks. On three separate occasions, he missed one or two beats where he should have cut Henry off in mid-sentence. Maybe the opening night cast party took too much out of him?

Logan Hesse, as the suicidal Derek, tried but failed to come up with a compelling performance. Spelling out his character’s suicidal tendencies was an unnecessary touch from the writer.The rest of the cast worked hard to make something out of an average story and weak leading performances. They did not succeed.

Click here to send private feedback about this article to the State Hornet’s Features staff.