A Tail-Wagging ‘12th Dog Night’ : It’s Shakespeare with a liberal sprinkling of gags and mediocre ‘70s music.

It’s so obvious: Shakespeare and Three Dog Night. Why haven’t others seen the link between arguably the world’s greatest writer and this so-so ‘70s rock band? There’s the lyricism, the insight, the beauty they share. The absolute mastery of the English . . . oh, forget it.

Of course there’s absolutely no connection between the Bard and the Dog. Except if you want to be really silly and wed the two for laughs. That’s what the Troubadour Theater Company is up to with “Twelfth Dog Night,” at the Grove Theater Center’s Festival Amphitheater in Garden Grove through Saturday and moving to the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton for another run July 30 to Aug. 7.

The Los Angeles-based troupe has taken the basic plot and several passages from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” shoved them through a vaudevillian commedia dell’arte filter and then tossed in a few Three Dog Night tunes, about as arbitrarily as can be.

But from this mugging of Shakespeare (and not that tender a handling of Three Dog) comes some surprisingly infectious low humor.

Watching the company’s artistic director, Matt Walker (he also plays Feste, sort of a boss clown orchestrating much of the action), and his players tirelessly ricochet through “Twelfth Dog Night” is a mostly amusing way to spend a couple of hours outdoors. There’s little downtime, whether the troupe is bouncing on a trampoline, navigating the stage on stilts or twisting Shakespeare’s dialogue for irreverent effect.

That’s the fun part. The rub is that “Twelfth Dog Night,” despite its source material, actually has little to do with Shakespeare. Anyone unfamiliar with this rollicking comedy of love and mistaken identity will be thoroughly confused by what’s happening on stage.

Some of the actors even stroll in studying copies of Shakespeare Cliffs Notes. You get the point: Gags are what’s important, not the complicated but appealing story and characters of “Twelfth Night.”

For the uninitiated, it helps to know that Malvolio (Travis Clark) is countess Olivia’s major-domo. Olivia (Rachel Wolfe) is loved by Duke Orsino (Briant Wells). In turn, Olivia digs Orsino’s page, Cesario, who’s really Viola (Michelle Anne Johnson), a young woman disguised in menswear. Viola loves Orsino. And don’t forget Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian (Kent Davis), who loves Olivia. OK, you can breathe out now.

It’s clear we’re in spoof territory when the show opens with the theme song from “Gilligan’s Island,” suggesting the shipwreck that helps set “Twelfth Night” on its course.

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From there, the jokes come furiously, cutting a wide swath. Orange County freeways, Prince’s “1999,” Motel 6 commercials and Father Guido Sarducci from “Saturday Night Live” are just some of the starting points.

And, of course, there’s that Three Dog Night nonsense. The cast breaks out in a rendition of “Joy to the World” for absolutely no reason (except for the fact the show’s title is “Twelfth Dog Night”) and Malvolio offers a wounded “One” during an especially lonely moment. It’s all pointless, but not terribly out of place among all these rambling shenanigans. The bits don’t always work (for instance, there’s a thud when characters evoke Prince by saying they’re going to “party like it’s 1599”), but the performers usually make up for the duds with their comic abilities.

“Twelfth Dog Night” is at its best when Walker and the rest just do their thing, getting playful on us. The goofy randomness of the show welcomes that more than anything.

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* “Twelfth Dog Night,” Grove Theater Center’s Festival Amphitheater, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. 8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. $18.50-$22.50. Ends Saturday. Also July 30-Aug. 7 at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, 1201 W. Malvern Ave., Fullerton. 8:15 p.m. Friday-Saturday. $24.50 (dinner available for an extra $14). (714) 741-9555 for both. Running time: 2 hours.

Michael Sulprizio: Sir Toby Belch

Kent Davis: Sebastian

Travis Clark: Malvolio

Michelle Anne Johnson: Viola/Cesario

Carissa Barnett: Maria

Michael Teele: Fabian

Beth Kennedy: Antonio

Briant Wells: Duke Orsino

Timothy Groff: Sir Andrew

Matt Walker: Feste

Rachel Wolfe: Olivia

A Troubadour Theater Company production of an original comedy based on William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Directed by Matt Walker.