My Darling Boy

A divorced and retired obituary writer pines for his wayward son in this lively burlesque from Dufresne (Deep in the Shade of Paradise). Olney Kartheizer occupies his time with a part-time gig handing out balls and putters at a mini golf course in Anastasia, Fla., and devotes his thoughts to his son, Culley, whom he remembers as “the happiest boy in town” before Culley fell into opioid addiction. Hoping for a reconciliation, Olney takes his girlfriend, Mireille, on a last-ditch rescue mission to fictional Everglade County, several hours south, to try and bring Culley home. After arriving in the town of Melancholy, Culley’s last-known whereabouts, Olney finds help from a panoply of colorful oddballs and misfits including conspiracy theorist Guy A. Boy, who believes that most members of Congress are holograms, and Guy’s like-minded buddy Reed Proust, who befriends Olney and Mireille after spotting their wanted poster for Culley. Olney also solicits help from his AA sponsor, who offers to stage an intervention. While Olney is frequently overcome by sentimentalism, Dufresne cannily holds back on the maudlin, treating the painful subject matter with a steady supply of acerbic humor and goofy wordplay (“oxy moron,” “french benefits,” “gameful employment”). Fans of T.C. Boyle’s satire or Dave Barry’s buffoonery will find their sides aching from laughter. (Jan.)