Unmentionably witty

Steve Martin long ago proved his facility at comedy’s many forms, from the supremely silly (“happy feet”) to the boisterously brainy (cursing the cult of beauty in “Roxanne”).

He has continued this juggling act in his writing for the stage, in the popular if superficial 1993 laugh-riot “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” and in the odder but more intriguing 2002 comedy “The Underpants.” The latter arrived here a year ago as a Geffen Playhouse presentation. Now it’s at Laguna Playhouse in a lively, well-modulated production.

The title hints at lowbrow humor, which Martin gleefully delivers in double-entendres about men’s and women’s nether regions. But there’s a lot more going on here, as laughs are unleashed on morality, conformity and pigheaded self-certainty.

Martin’s source material is “Die Hose” (The Bloomers), by the German Expressionist playwright Carl Sternheim. Active from about 1910 to 1924, the Expressionists feared that humankind -- caught up in technology, materialism and nationalism -- was becoming ever more selfish and corrupt. Sternheim used humor to draw in theatergoers so that he could then hook them with ideas and steer them onto a new path. Martin, in his adaptation, may not be quite so intent on changing the world, but he nevertheless succeeds in showing us how ridiculous we can be.

The story takes place in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1910, the year before Sternheim’s play was introduced. Theo Maske (Tom Shelton), a government clerk, and his wife, Louise (Susan Duerden), have just returned home from the crowds gathered to watch the kaiser pass -- and Theo is livid, for while Louise was standing on tiptoe to get a better view, her bloomers somehow plunged to the ground.

“I can’t believe this happened to me,” Theo bellows. As “a responsible wage earner,” he goes on to explain, he can’t have his pretty young wife doing anything that might threaten his position. The scenic design, by Dwight Richard Odle, subtly underscores this mind-set, for there among the mismatched furnishings in the couple’s apartment stand an identical pair of elegant armchairs -- manifestations of Theo’s bourgeois ambitions.

Even as Louise tries to calm Theo, she becomes aware of the effect she has had, because suddenly men are materializing out of nowhere, eager to woo her. But Theo is too self-absorbed to realize why the poet (Alan Safier) in the dramatic cape or the barber (Ron Campbell) with the unkempt bird’s nest of hair are hanging around -- or why the upstairs busybody (DeeDee Rescher), hoping to live vicariously through any amorous adventures that might ensue, is dropping in more than usual.

Finely tuned comedy keeps the story moving briskly, particularly the wonderful clown routine delivered by Campbell as the frail, bumbling barber who slaps his knuckles in mock self-reprobation and goes wobbly kneed after stealing his first kiss.

In this and in all else, director Andrew Barnicle gets the tone just right. For while “The Underpants” is not as overtly funny as “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” and although it is not entirely gratifying on its own terms, it is, nevertheless, a thinking person’s comedy. Louise is experiencing her 15 minutes of fame, and that impulse toward celebrity is just one of many quirks -- along with self-delusion, narrow-mindedness and intolerance -- skewered here. It’s good for a few laughs and, in its best moments, a bit of introspection as well.

*

‘The Underpants’

Where: Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays.

No 7 p.m. performance on May 1.

Ends: May 1

Price: $30 to $54

Contact: (949) 497-ARTS or www.LagunaPlayhouse.com

Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Tom Shelton...Theo Maske

Susan Duerden...Louise Maske

DeeDee Rescher...Gertrude Deuter

Alan Safier...Frank Versati

Ron Campbell...Benjamin Cohen

George J. Woods...Klinglehoff

Written by Steve Martin, adapted from Carl Sternheim’s “Die Hose” (The Bloomers]. Directed by Andrew Barnicle. Set and costumes Dwight Richard Odle. Lights Paulie Jenkins. Sound David Edwards. Production stage manger Vernon Willet.