They’ve gone about as fur as they can go

Yippee yai kai yai yay! Justin Tanner, gadfly playwright known for such campy comedies as “Pot Mom” and “Intervention,” takes a wild gallop over the top in “Oklahomo!” -- the first production by the newly formed Third Stage Company at Third Stage in Burbank. Tanner’s cheerfully offensive romp about marginal West Hollywood theater types putting on an unauthorized gay adaptation of “Oklahoma!” will likely leave you hooting at the sheer preposterousness of it all.

A caveat. If you’re bugged by explicit homosexual references or strong language, steer clear of this production. “Oklahomo!” is strictly rough trade -- high decibel, uncivilized and consistently outrageous. In Lisa James’ breakneck staging, dialogue overlaps like a speeded-up Altman soundtrack, and the performers, many of them alums from previous Tanner productions, don’t hesitate to messily masticate the scenery.

The hothouse behind-the-scenes ambience of a shoestring small theater is evoked with such gamy authenticity, it’s scary. These mostly gay and mostly struggling hopefuls are so intent on getting some exposure -- any exposure -- that they will put up with horrendous indignities and humiliations in their quest for a hit showcase.

Tanner plays the egomaniacal director, Darren, a monstrous creation whose sheer emotional toxicity is one of the show’s chief delights. Although Tanner’s relentless bombast is initially off-putting, his hugely unlikable character grows on you like a fungal infection.

Also wondrously irritating is Maile Flanagan as a born-again stage manager who drives everybody crazy with her humorless proselytizing.

Dry and droll Ellen Ratner plays a lesbian sitcom diva who is more interested in doing drugs than in developing her character, while Mary Scheer is divinely histrionic as a coke-snorting musical director headed for a meltdown.

On the surface a broad parody, “Oklahomo!” is also a savage send-up of Tanner’s own experiences on the local small theater scene, and it’s a bitter, uncompromising overview from an artistic survivor. Unmellowed, unbowed and loaded for bear, Tanner enters a new phase of anarchic rowdiness.

*

‘Oklahomo!’

Where: Third Stage, 2811 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank

When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays

Ends: Aug. 20

Price: $18

Contact: (818) 842-4755

Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes