COMMON FOLK The cast of Song gets a Woody.

The Woody Guthrie who emerges from Peter Glazer’s sampler of the folk singer’s songs and autobiographical writings is not the Depression-era Okie troubadour, the documentarian of the downtrodden, the uncompromising musician with an ear for everyday poetry or the angry lefty whose guitar bore a sticker reading THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS. In fact, no clear picture of Guthrie emerges from this rambling hodgepodge, because Glazer evidently lacks his subject’s gift for economy, precision and unadorned expression.

Performed by three men (who play Guthrie at different ages) and two women, the show has plenty of Guthrie’s music, including “Bound for Glory,” “Union Maid,” “The Sinking of the Reuben James” and, of course, “This Land Is Your Land.” But the songs are marooned among often tedious or irrelevant biographical information and long passages from Guthrie’s writings that seem taken out of context or chosen for their banality. Ostensibly a celebration of Guthrie’s life and music, the piece gives an indistinct shape to the former and fails to provide a proper setting for the latter.

Blindfaith’s production, with its affable cast in grime and Joad-wear, has the feel of an old-timey hootenanny. Though this complements Guthrie’s populism, the cast could stand to cut back a bit on the down-home corn. Talented musicians all (who are backed up by a small band but play their own instruments as well), they’re most affecting when least affected, as in their straightforward, gripping rendition of “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” the show’s highlight.