Sat. May 9

Last call! Don’t be intimidated by the year (1580) and the setting (a piazza in Naples). “The Miracle of Naples,” is a new play (a world premiere, in fact) with a very modern feel. That is, there’s plenty of sex – straight and gay – lots of R-rated cursing and liberal doses of cutting-edge humor. Most of the time, it’s a bawdy, brawling sex comedy. But, yes, there’s heart and soul, too. It was written by David Grimm and directed by the Huntington Theatre’s Peter DuBois, and it’s up at the Calderwood Pavilion through May 9.
It basically involves a troupe of poor Italian actors who go from city to city staging slapstick-oriented street comedies, called commedia.

This troupe is led by Don Bertolino Fortunato (Tony winner Dick Latessa), an aging actor trying to keep his family of younger actors together at a time when the art of street performance is dying – owing to the opening of theaters. (Anyone see any modern day correlation there, say, between print and on-line journalism?) The troupe returns to Fortunato’s hometown where he meets up with old flame, Francescina (Alma Cuervo), whom he endearingly calls Ratface. Flaminia (Christina Pumariega), is a comely young woman who is dying to have some sexual pleasure in her life, clearly against Francescina’s instruction to remain chaste (at least technically speaking) until marriage.

That conflict sets the play in action. When the troupe comes to town – and the town is a sumptuous Neapolitan street by Alexander Dodge -  Flaminia is first attended to by the self-styled degenerate duo of Tristano (Pedro Pascal) and Matteo (Gregory Wooddell). Tristano is supposedly the smart one; Matteo is the dumber, prettier one. They have a clear bond that will be explored more fully in the second act.

 But Flaminia falls in love, or so she thinks, with the more dashing and romantic Giancarlo (Alfredo Narciso). And he with her. Or so he thinks. One little complicating matter is La Piccola, a fiery bit of a thing played by Lucy DeVito – daughter of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlmann – and she is a hoot. Caustic, empathetic, troubled, hilarious. And she very much looks like you would expect a DeVito-Perlmann offspring to look like. Her physical characteristics are very much integral to the goings-on. “Look at me! I’m not enough to fill a coffin!” she says at one point. But, she, too, has had a relationship – well, a one-nighter – with Giancarlo and that will prove a complication for everyone.

The witty comments and the profane barbs fly fast and furious. All seven of the characters have interesting stories, and all are likable and dislikable, comic and serious, to varying degrees. There are some lessons to be learned here – for us in the audience and for the characters – about sex, love and the struggle to survive, but these delivered in a bawdy and diverting manner. You can pluck out what you wish from the high-spirited hijinks and bang-bang dialogue. My favorite: Giancarlo asks, “What kind of family is bound together by fear, jealousy and spite?” The answer, after a beat: “Most of them?” You’ll leave with a smile on your face, having experienced two hours of farcical life in the 16th century, which resonates in the 21st.

The show's run concludes tonight, Saturday May 9 with a performance at 8. Tickets: $20-$60.

527 Tremont St. 617-266-0800, www.huntingtontheatre.org