STAGE REVIEW : THIS ‘FOX’ IS SLY, BUT IT’S NOT SUBTLE

The Laguna Moulton Playhouse is offering a resolutely lowbrow “Sly Fox” that, while not always appealing, is at least faithful to the farce’s bawdy soul.

Larry Gelbart’s comedy is shamelessly coarse: Gags dwell on male and female body parts, sexual prowess, the exploitation of women (even rape is used for laughs) and, more than anything else, man’s ability to commit any act in the name of greed. That caveat given, it’s safe to say that those who like ribald humor may find “Sly Fox” a reasonable diversion. Others beware.

The jokes are wound around Foxwell J. Sly (played by Douglas Rowe), a man with many lusts, not the least of which is gold, and his devilish right-hand man, Simon Abel (Mark Dressler), as they bilk the local gentry by passing Sly off as a rich old coot near death and looking for an heir. With Abel as the jive-talking salesman, they convince three misers that by giving valuable presents to Sly, he’ll name them in his will. Things get screwy (and raunchy) when Sly, lech that he is, talks one of them into letting him bed his wife.

Rowe and Dressler are faced with gags that ask for a lot of physical humor, and they seem to relish them, attacking their roles with gusto. Dressler’s Abel nimbly dashes about the stage trying to keep the deceptions from unraveling, and Rowe’s Sly shifts from comatose to spry in an instant, even once somersaulting across the bed to grab the wife. There’s not much subtlety in their acting--this can be said for the entire cast--but they can’t be faulted, because the comedy doesn’t demand understatement.

As the action is quick-paced, so are the set changes. There are several scenes requiring different looks, and set designer Wally Huntoon does a masterful job creating a whirl of environments from Sly’s bedroom to a barren prison cell to a less-than-stately courtroom.

“Sly Fox” runs through Oct. 5 at the Laguna Moulton Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Call (714) 494-0743.