The Purple Rose Theatre Company’s new revival production of Jeff Daniels’ comedy Norma & Wanda, first staged in Chelsea 20 years ago, has a notably self-aware coda: an upbeat recorded cast announcement that brings the actors bounding back onto the stage, similar to that of a “recorded in front of a live studio audience” sitcom curtain call.

Frankly, nothing could be more apt for the slapstick-y Norma & Wanda. The play aims to be an over-the-top romp with loads of physical comedy and double entendres. It tells the story of the titular sisters: Norma (Kristin Shields), who’s frantically decorating her home for the holidays while also making peanut butter balls for the Baby Jesus Memorial Christmas Brunch; and Wanda (Jamie Elvey), the crass, unlucky-in-love sister who’s seething about being stood up yet again.

But whether you do more laughing or wincing, well, that will depend on how funny you find a woman repeatedly summoning her cat by yelling, “Where’s my Pussy?” and if the phrase “peanut butter balls” makes you giggle.

Much like a standard sitcom, the characters in Norma & Wanda are broad, cartoonish stereotypes, and the dialogue and plot are exaggerated, which is fine as a comedic choice, and director Rhiannon Ragland and her cast fully commit to the bit.

But for this type of show to truly land now, you can’t rely on tired, overused innuendo and moments where the audience watches the actors work themselves into the most outrageous and incriminating positions possible for a predictably embarrassing character entrance. You have to surprise us in new, imaginative ways—and even if I hadn’t seen the original production of Norma & Wanda long, long ago, I would argue that the revival, while having some good moments, never quite achieves this.

Even so, the Sunday matinee crowd around me seemed to enjoy themselves, and as is true with nearly all Rose productions, the work behind the scenes and on-stage is top-notch.

Sam Transleau’s set gives Norma’s house a sense of depth and dimension, with the palette (and wallpaper) of a conventional suburban home circa 1991. Prop designer Danna Segrest, meanwhile, provides just enough bare bones decor (area rug, furniture, holiday decorations, etc.) to establish a lived-in domestic space while also leaving big, open areas for the play’s outsized physical comedy, much of which is choreographed by fight director Christina Traister. Marley Boone’s costumes nod to the early '90s while also individuating characters (i.e., Norma’s pressed slacks and big hair bow vs. Wanda’s slept-in, low-rent barhopping dress), and Mario Raymond’s lighting and Matt Tibbs’ sound ensure that we’re sensorily immersed in this goofy, off-kilter world.

Norma & Wanda’s cast is a pack of experienced pros, doing the most they can with characters who are often hard to like and root for. Elvey’s Wanda swaggers with pride at having no filter, while Shields’ uptight Norma is like a hamster on a wheel, racing around to maintain appearances and keep the peace in her home.

Mel (Matt Bogart), Norma’s husband, is stern, humorless, and embittered by a life-changing accident involving Wanda the previous year. (Bogart earns one of the show’s biggest laughs when trying to eat a sandwich Norma prepares for him. This kind of bit is what I wanted more of!) Paulie Perkins (Henri Franklin) is a local tough who went to high school with the sisters and is willing to exact some revenge on Wanda’s no-show boyfriend. But it’s supporting player Mary Sue (Kate Thomsen) who, as a mousy, earnest, recently widowed “church lady,” gets some of the show’s best comedic opportunities, pressing Norma to make tons more brunch treats while also finding herself sucked into the chaos happening in Norma’s home.

You may find yourself sucked in by it, too, because Norma & Wanda tries really hard to emit a Lucy-and-Ethel vibe.

But that kind of timeless comedy is a lightning-in-a-bottle rarity that, well, peanut butter balls can’t match.

Jenn McKee is a former staff arts reporter for The Ann Arbor News, where she primarily covered theater and film events, and also wrote general features and occasional articles on books and music.     

The revival production of Jeff Daniels’ comedy Norma & Wanda runs to December 21 at The Purple Rose Theatre Company, 137 Park Street, Chelsea.