Doing the right thing--in an entertaining way--is the message behind ‘Urban Abo.’

Meet Fred Wofford, a greedy, 1980s businessman with the ethics of a rat, who wants to develop a tropical island paradise and transform it into “an international symbol of bad taste, high-rises, McFood and roller derby.”

Meet Fred’s wife, kids and colleagues and the native inhabitants of the island. They all want Fred dead.

Such is the setup for “Urban Abo” (short for “aborigine”), a new play to be offered in a staged reading Sunday at the Norris Theatre in Palos Verdes.

The modern farce, set mostly in 1988 Manhattan, is touted as an adult comedy “with coincidental ethical context.” In other words, there’s a moral to the story, but it doesn’t get in the way of the entertainment.

“The idea is to provoke once everyone is laughing,” said director Alan Blumenfeld, best-known recently for his role as Uncle Willie on television’s “Brooklyn Bridge.”

“Urban Abo,” written by New York playwright Bruce J. Robinson, is the fourth production of the Norris Theatre’s Playwright Development Project. The year-old program stages low-cost readings of new plays to help the writers smooth out the kinks in their work by getting feedback from a live audience.

Scripts are solicited nationwide and then produced with simple costumes, sets and lighting. Actors refer to their scripts while performing.

Jane Schulman, producing director of the Playwright Development Project, calls “Urban Abo” “a cross between ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ ” and a production that brings an increasingly rare point of view to the stage.

“Theater is afraid to present any ethical standpoint anymore,” Schulman said. “People are afraid to call evil evil.”

But “Urban Abo” is more than just a politically correct play, Schulman said. “The ultimate goal is something even Dan Quayle would rally around. It’s really about family values and doing good acts rather than doing things to feel good,” she said.

While the play takes aim at the acquisitive ways of the 1980s and targets everything from the Catholic Church to big business and rock ‘n’ roll, central character Fred Wofford escapes a series of bungled assassination attempts and emerges with a new set of priorities and values.

Ultimately, he discovers the “aborigine within himself,” director Blumenfeld said.

Through Fred, the play demonstrates that “the mind of the Westerner is important, but the heart of the pagan should be integrated” for an individual, or the world, to be whole, Blumenfeld said.

The performance will be followed by an informal reception and dinner, allowing the writer and cast to mingle with the audience and obtain feedback on the show.

Said Blumenfeld: “It’s a chance to find out what’s delightful to them and what’s threatening.”

What: “Urban Abo,” a staged reading of a new play by Bruce J. Robinson.

When: 7 p.m. Sunday, June 14.

Where: Norris Theatre, 27570 Crossfield Drive, at Indian Peak Road, Palos Verdes.

Admission: Free.

Information: (310) 544-0403.