’Dionysus Was Such a Nice Man’ at the Wilma: The old made new, surprising, and kind of funny

The ancient myths are really getting a workout these days: In just the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen (on Broadway) Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, a messy mashup of Helen of Troy and the American goddess Marilyn Monroe; and the brilliant Hadestown, which fuses the myths of Hades and Persephone with the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus. Now, we have this world premiere of Kate Tarker’s Dionysus was Such a Nice Man (through May 12 at the Wilma Theater), in which Oedipus turns up. As tragedies go, this one is pretty funny.

Note, please, that Dionysus was neither nice nor a man, but the god of wine and all that wine often leads to.

Dominique Serrand directs the Wilma’s resident Hot House company, making good use of their wild and wooly physical style. Matteo Scammell (here graceful and adorable, not his usual intense mode) is the Messenger who introduces us to the circumstances. The baby Oedipus, who has been handed off by his parents and passed from shepherd to shepherd, finally finds a home, not with the king and queen of Corinth as the famous story goes, but with the third shepherd, Polybus (Luverne Seifert, gross and hilarious), and his wife, Merope (Melanye Finister, in a let-it-rip performance; her delivery of a one-word line, “Chardonnay” is just perfect).

Their daughter (the terrific Taysha Marie Canales) is devoted to the sheep and to her father; she will become the Messenger’s rape victim. This will lead to a courtroom drama in which Freud (you recall the Oedipus complex, surely) takes a satiric beating. It’s hard to tell whether the victim, who loses, again, and who suffers from repressed memories of childhood abuse, is part of the satire or a serious indictment.

In Act Two, Oedipus (Keith Conallen, excellent as always) stumbles in — he’s blind, remember — to find his adopted mother, now widowed and looking a lot like Miss Havesham. She is in dire need of some sex; people do tend to repeat their mistakes. There is a hanger-on hairdresser (Ross Beschler, in a small role, who nearly steals the show).

The script wears out its jokiness, and there are long stretches when nothing much is happening, which is to say that Tarker’s play isn’t nearly as good as the actors are. Where to go after throwaway lines like “What is orange and smells like blue paint?” “Orange paint.” The sheep make a sort of Greek chorus, and the set designed by Kristen Robinson is suitably bizarre, as are the costumes designed by Sonya Berlovitz.

Like most Wilma shows, Dionysus was Such a Nice Man is experimental theater, insisting on the old made new and surprising, and, in this case, the kind of funny.

Through May 12 at the Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. Tickets: $33-$48. Information: 215-546-7824, wilmatheater.org.