Prospero's New Island: Manhattan

When a vengeful fictional character steps out of the pages of Shakespeare and into modern Manhattan threatening death and destruction, who in the world can save the day? A dramaturg.

That's right, and before you ask what exactly a dramaturg is, note that this one -- the hero of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's frisky, eventually frazzled "Rough Magic" at Rorschach Theatre -- has magical powers. Not only can she analyze a text and provide research assistance (traditional functions of the dramaturg), but Melanie Porter can also transport characters out of scripts and into real life.

Of course, this would make her renowned in the modern theater. Who would ever hire an actor to play Hamlet when Melanie could summon the Dane himself? But she sits on her gift. Seems it backfires sometimes. As anyone who's seen stuff like "The Purple Rose of Cairo" knows, anything goes once characters become liberated from their original plots.

For Aguirre-Sacasa, this is a fiendishly tempting fairyland. His background includes drama school at Yale, public relations work for the Shakespeare Theatre Company and writing for Marvel Comics. "Rough Magic" draws on it all, hijacking characters from "The Tempest" -- including a wrathful, unrepentant Prospero in pursuit of Caliban, who has stolen his magic book -- and aligning an offbeat coalition of unlikely heroes for an epic battle.

The play works best when it makes knowing fun of this goofiness, and so does Jenny McConnell Frederick's low-budget production. The smoothest element of "Rough Magic" is Tracy Lynn Olivera, whose deadpan style as Melanie perfectly suits the dry, bookish single gal caught up in a supernatural whirlwind.

A number of the inside jokes are delicious, as when Melanie calls on the controllable Coriolanus to lend a hand. "Dumb as a stick, and a total mama's boy," Olivera's quick-thinking Melanie reasons. Even better is the bookstore she frequents for texts: Mushnik's, and yes, it's that Mushnik, which is sure to amuse "Little Shop of Horrors" fans.

But the trick, as any good dramaturg knows, is how to keep piling on the absurdities without losing the zest of the premise, and that trick isn't quite up Aguirre-Sacasa's sleeve. His instincts draw him into overgrown thickets of villainy and complication; great gobs of the script seem more suited to comic books than the stage, especially the ultra-dense plotting and ka-POW action sequences.

Frederick's production tries to bridge the play's quirky divides, segueing from Prospero's ancient island to the present day with lightning and music, even featuring cartoon panels on the back walls of Eric Grims's set. Frank Labovitz's costumes make the bold leap from Melanie's plain jeans and skirts to Prospero's flowing robe, which features the kind of preposterously flared shoulder pads favored by intergalactic tyrants.

Which is how Vasanth Santosham plays this un-poetic Prospero -- as a swaggering, bellowing, universe-conquering brute. Where Shakespeare turned romantic, Aguirre-Sacasa rolls the other way, realigning the story and relationships for maximum family feuding. Caliban is rendered as Prospero's son, brother not only of Miranda (Ghillian Porter, noble and distraught) but also of enslaved spirits Ariel and Sasia -- Prospero's Goth henchmen, as played by the slinking Danny Gavigan and Diana Cherkas.

It's heavy melodrama, comic-style, and you miss the puckish opening bits with the luscious grad student (Gwen Grastorf) snapping insights about Prospero, and the doofus teenage lifeguard (Dustin Loomis) who takes a lasting shine to stammering Melanie.

As it is, the rabbits that keep popping out of the hat -- including campy Furies in drag and a vague 9/11 vibe that attends Prospero's downtown attacks -- lack a certain hoped-for magic.

Rough Magic, by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Directed by Jenny McConnell Frederick. Lighting design, Andrew Cissna; sound design, Matthew Frederick. With Cesar A. Guadamuz, Jason Basinger Linkins, Lee Liebeskind and Grady Weatherford. Approximately two hours. Through Feb. 24 at Casa del Pueblo Methodist Church, 1459 Columbia Rd. NW. Call 800-494-8497 or visit http://www.boxofficetickets.com/Rorschach.