STAGE REVIEWS : ‘Death by Chocolate’ Proves Unappetizing : The comic murder mystery by the Cypress Civic Theatre Guild is foolish and nonsensical, and too much of the acting is amateurish.

CYPRESS — Like an extended skit whipped together by some exhibitionist party guests, “Death by Chocolate,” the current offering of the Cypress Civic Theatre Guild, relies upon the great good will of its audience for its success. Long on foolishness and short on sense, the script is built on cheap character gags and sophomoric puns, at which the players themselves often groan and wince.

The plot of the play is a crude envelope for the nonsense of the proceedings. On the eve of the reopening of a country health club, murder is afoot in the form of poisoned chocolates given to the new director. The previous director, a reported suicide, was actually murdered, as the prologue reveals, by one of the staff of the health club, with the help of at least one other person whose identity is hidden.

Is this other person the owner of the club, a buxom matron calling herself Lady Riverdale, whose scarlet past is a blackmailing secret between herself and the gym director? Or is it the cool, collected secretary with the unusual name? Or maybe it’s the grief-stricken daughter of the dead man, who eats incessantly and speaks in a garble that only the sinister butler can translate.

Never mind bending your brain around the clues in order to discover the answer. The story is not constructed for the thinking mind.

Director Craig Harreld seems to have a handle on the essential silliness of the piece and has encouraged his actors toward unabashed joke-chasing. As John Stone, the most unlikely new spa director, Jay Mead has the crisp delivery of a stand-up comedian and a nightclub performer’s rapport with the audience, which effectively rescues him from culpability for the rest of the production. Steve Gomer gives a bold--albeit insultingly stereotyped--impersonation of a gay aerobics instructor. The rest of the cast is solidly amateurish, which suits the material perfectly.

There’s a lottery for playgoers who wish to guess the murderer. First prize is dinner for two at a local restaurant. Second prize is--uh-oh--a box of chocolates.

In a pre-show announcement, director Harreld exhorts audience members to laugh and enjoy themselves, which they very gamely attempted to do Friday night, when, in a scene change blackout, they began stomping and clapping to the strains of the “William Tell” Overture. It was by far the funniest moment of the night.

‘DEATH BY CHOCOLATE’

A Cypress Civic Theatre Guild production of Paul Freed’s comic murder mystery. Directed by Craig Harreld. With C. Martin, Diane O’Neill, Uraina Bos, Jay Mead, Gino England, Paula Mead, Lee Parry, Linda Jeter, Steve Gomer, Tom Royer, Kathy Sherwood. Plays Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets for this special performance are $10, paid in advance, which includes all the chocolate you can eat. Tickets for Saturday’s closing performance are $6 general admission, $5 students and seniors. At the Cypress Cultural Arts Center, 5172 Orange Ave., Cypress. Box office: (714) 229-6796.