Not only is there substance and interest in "Interesting Times," Jerry Starr's story of a young man finding his way amid the clashing ideals of 1963 America, there's significant (if intermittent) skill in its dramatization.

Even better, although basically autobiographical, hence its winning specificity, it has a disarming way of not taking itself too seriously. It's not afraid to paint the hero, David, clearly a version of the playwright, as a social klutz, for all his obvious brains and societal awareness.

It's certainly a huge advance in playwriting assurance on Starr's "Buried: The Sago Mine Disaster," much of which feels like an earnest version of Living Newspaper plays from the '30s. "Interesting Times" also lapses occasionally into dialogue that is baldly expository, but it recovers itself and creates scenes with the snap and crackle of life.

The story finds David (Corey Rieger) caught between his father's (Chris Josephs) sour determination that he take over the family shoe store and his own interest in personal discovery and progressive concern for societal good. His college friends are the self-regarding radicals of the day, but he has firmer ideals than they; even more unusually, he has a black girlfriend (Erin Perry), or would have if he recognized how much he cares for her.

Starr manages the family conflict well. The domineering father and understanding mother (Debra Gordon) verge on stereotype, but they have enough idiosyncrasy, such as their many Jewish aphorisms, to keep them alive. These aphorisms allow Starr to have his cake and joke about it, too.

David's cousin, Ira (Vince Ventura), provides a neat contrast -- he knows what he wants. But David's confusion is still more interesting than Ira's earnestness.

The encounters between David and his peers, including a self-styled gift to womankind (Nathan Hollabaugh), are somewhat less convincing, but they certainly add humor. His goofball college pals are funny but could be even funnier, because they'll never seem very real. An admired professor (Marcus Muzapoppa) extends David's possible models.

The cast is huge, 14 in all. Starr has to learn to make do with fewer characters, if he hopes to be produced. But director Mark Clayton Southers has been able to recruit willing capable actors, led by Rieger, Josephs, Gordon and Perry. Better yet, he (or is it Starr?) contrives speedy segues from each of Starr's many scenes to the next, from diner to store to home to college.

A bonus for those of us of a certain age is the multitude of period references, from Gary Snyder to Sandra Dee, from "8 1/2" to LSD. It's a trip.