CALIFORNIA SUITE

Anybody who dared to hope (from glimmers in Plaza Suite, Sunshine Boys, and others) that Nell Simon would develop into more a people-writer than a gag-writer can weep over California Suite while the rest of the world chuckles. Though not ""Neff Simon at his best"" (Clive Barnes) or ""very, very, very funny"" (Gene Shalit), these four playlets set in rooms 203 and 204 of the Beverly Hills Hotel do supply two crafty, physical vaudevilles--the married man hiding the inert, naked female from his wife/the ""friends"" who love to hate each other--along with two selfconscious, verbal bouts between bitchy (crying inside) semi-lovers. The conversation pieces (California vs. New York, the Oscars, bisexuality, tennis) seem more effortful and evanescent than usual, and there's not a line that will come up funny without the zing-spat delivery of seasoned, sharpened actor tongues.