It’s no spoiler to say that at the end of Mindy and Brenda Withers’ 2002 play “Matt & Ben,” there’s a brief video clip of the boyishly ecstatic Matt Damon and Ben Affleck breathlessly accepting their Oscars for Best Original Screenplay at the 1998 Academy Awards.

Best friends since grade school, the Cambridge, Mass., duo co-wrote and co-starred in the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting,” which took them from up-and-coming actors to Hollywood royalty overnight.

But the unbridled joy of their unexpected win, and the unshakeably tight friendship so clearly on display in the video clip is curiously absent from “Matt & Ben,” the 2002 play inspired by the creation of “Good Will Hunting” that made its San Diego premiere Saturday at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad.

Co-written by “The Office” alum Mindy Kaling and Brenda Witherspoon for the New York International Fringe Festival, “Matt & Ben” has the sort of audacious, absurdist, bootstrap style you’d expect in a Fringe show. But 24 years later, the play feels undercooked and out of date.

Kaling and Witherspoon co-starred in the 80-minute comedy, where their version of “Ben” is a moronic but sweet-natured bro riding the intellectual coattails of the more serious “Matt,” who’s pompous, scheming and barely able to tolerate his buddy’s ignorance.

To be fair, back in the early 2000s, Affleck was moody and battled alcoholism. But today, 46 years into their friendship, Affleck and Damon have built respected careers as industry leading co-producers, business partners, directors and actors. And they’re still best friends whose only shared regret — according to a joint interview for People magazine in January — is that they didn’t work together more over the decades.

Setting all that aside, “Matt & Ben” does have a clever, cross-gender casting concept with unexpected surreal scenes. It opens in Ben’s junk food-filled apartment where the finished screenplay for “Good Will Hunting” drops out of the sky into the laps of the struggling young actors. Unsure whether to claim the work as their own, and competitive over who gets to play title character Will Hunting, they argue and ultimately slug it out before realizing they need to work together to write their own screenplay.

Director Maria Patrice Amon has cast two talented local Latina actors in the play. Alejandra Villanueva is hilarious and charming as the testosterone-fueled chick magnet Ben. And Maya Sofia Enciso has a quieter, more focused, manspreading energy as the brainy, ambitious and secretive Matt. Amon and her actors find many moments of visual humor with dancing and audience interaction that bring a lot of life and lightness to the play.

Jesus Hartado designed the retro apartment, as well as the hand-drawn pre-show projections that feature pages from the “Good Will Hunting” script. Charlie Amon designed the late ’80s casual-wear costumes, Stephanie Ma’alona designed lighting, Zoe Yahrling designed sound and Isadora Swann served as asssistant director.

“Matt & Ben” is playful and imaginative, but as an audience member who recalls seeing both the meteoric rise of the real Matt and Ben in the late ’90s and the success of their enduring friendship, I wished the play was more celebratory and upbeat.

‘Matt & Ben’

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through April 26

Where: New Village Arts, 2787 State St., Carlsbad

Tickets: $35-$60

Phone: 760-433-3245

Online: newvillagearts.org

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