Message Gets Blurred in ‘Neighborhood’

A common culture does not a community make, warns the activist comedy troupe Chusma in “There Goes the Neighborhood,” a barrio call to arms at Glaxa Studios.

Driving the point home with an assault of slapstick, social satire and crude bodily functions interspersed with sobering urban mayhem, the cast portrays a “neighborhood” of selfishly isolated loners--a far cry from Mister Rogers’ homies.

Finding their way to interdependency in the course of the show are a feisty landlady (Celestina Castillo) and her obnoxious tenants: Juan (Alberto Ibarra), who schemes to make a fortune by videotaping a police beating, a troubled teen (Daniel A. Rosales) who thinks the bloodstains from a recent slaying are “cool,” a prima donna (Marisol L. Torres) who bleaches her hair to hide her Latina roots, and a white curmudgeon (Gustavo Chavez).

Though this mostly nonprofessional cast is clearly passionate, its compelling message is undermined by uneven performance skills--relegating this manifesto on the importance of community to the marginal niche of community theater.

* “There Goes the Neighborhood,” Glaxa Studios, 3707 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Sept. 15. $10. (213) 663-4106. Running time: 1 hours, 45 minutes.