“Clown Bar,” by Adam Szymkowicz, just opened at Theatre Conspiracy and closes Aug. 28. MONAGAS PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY PHOTO

Where do clowns go when they’re not busy clowning about in the circus?

The Clown Bar, of course.

Well, at least that’s where the seedy, shadowy underworld clowns hang out.

These clowns are prostitutes, mobsters and killers, with names such as Giggles, Shotgun, Twinkles, Blinky and Timmy. They’re as likely to shoot you as they are to squirt water in your face.

If you’re not scared of clowns, this play could do it for you, though you’ll probably be too busy laughing to develop a phobia.

“Clown Bar,” an exquisitely demented fever dream of a play by Adam Szymkowicz, just opened at Theatre Conspiracy. Unfortunately, it’s closing Aug. 28, as the venue only stages shows for two weeks now. (They might want to consider extending this run, as I overheard various people saying they’d be coming back and bringing friends with them.)

“Clown Bar” is inspired insanity: a delightfully perverse blend of noir detective story and the outrageous silliness of clowns.

Its loopy lunacy inspired a woman seated near me to exclaim, “What in the world?” But she very quickly followed up that sentence by saying, “I love it!”

The play’s premise is simple: former clown-turned-cop Happy Mahoney (a dapper Steven Coe — though it’s easy to look dapper when surrounded by clowns) returns to the Clown Bar to find out who killed his younger brother Timmy (Declan Ireland). Timmy, unfortunately, was not a very funny clown, even though he worked hard at it, and winds up getting involved with mobster clowns. Ireland plays his role with heartbreaking vulnerability, while Coe is dashing as the Sam Spade-like detective. This is the type of role Coe excels in, and he had me laughing with his over-the-top reaction to a clown death, kneeling over the body and wailing to the heavens.

With a cast of 10, everyone is a standout in this play.

There’s Giggles (Cicero McCarter), who giggles uncontrollably when he’s about to murder someone. Shotgun (Grant Cothren) is part bartender/part bouncer/part killer. Petunia (Shelly Sanders) is a clown waitress on roller skates who also turns tricks on the side. (She has a thing for Happy, though she’ll still charge him her standard rate if he agrees to sleep with her.)

And then there’s Twinkles, who deserves a paragraph all of her own. Played by Thomas Marsh and bedecked in a blue sequined gown, she has a bosom that would make Dolly Parton jealous, and a matching monumental rear that jiggles like Jell-O in an earthquake. There’s a ubiquitous cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth and a voice as gravelly as Harvey Fierstein’s.

The much-talked-about-and-feared Popo (Tera Nicole Miller) makes a grand entrance, dressed like an 8-year-old in a white party dress and petticoat, and white ribbons in her hair. But there’s blood spattered all over her pretty dress, and she’s dragging the murder weapon: an axe. It’s great to see Miller back in town and onstage again, and she gleefully plays this role with a murderous glint in her eye.

Though not a musical, the play includes numerous songs, performed by Dusty (Scott Thomson), a sad-sack of a clown. Szymkowicz’s lyrics are as strange and funny as his play, but if you’re seated on the side of the theater, they’re difficult to hear, as the piano drowns them out. I hope Theatre Conspiracy fixes the sound level, as the lyrics are as funny and weird as the dialogue.

In this play of outstanding performers, Kelly Rivadulla almost steals the show as Blinkey Fatale, the burlesque dancer, scantily dressed in fringe and spangles. (This is smart casting by producing artistic director Bill Taylor, as offstage, Rivadulla’s a member of Glam! Bam! Burlesque!) Her dance and torch song alone are worth the price of admission. When she shed her dress, a man seated next to me whispered in reverent wonder: “Wow!”

Happy is still carrying the torch for her, but like his dead brother, Blinkey has gotten involved with the underworld as well.

Bobo (Rob Green), the mob boss, makes a brief but powerful appearance: a red suit with black pin stripes, and the obligatory mobster black shirt with white tie. Even his clown shoes are spats. (Diana Waldier and Roberta Malcolm are the geniuses behind these costumes.) His suit — a clown version of David Byrne’s Big Suit — is as oversized as his ego, and his cobalt blue hair sticks straight out of his skull. Green struts about with bosslike self-importance and entitlement.

Mr. Taylor has gone all out with this show, and it’s evident in every loony detail.

An all-out gun fight scene is especially inspired; the shoot-out and the deaths are as cartoonish as the characters.

The play’s an immersive experience, with the Foulds Theatre transformed into a clown bar. Clown ushers meet you at the door. (Patrons can also dress up like clowns, if they like, and free red clown noses are offered at the door.)

For this show, the venue has cabaret seating, with some traditional theater seats available. The play takes place throughout the room, which has advantages and drawbacks.

You feel as if you’re in the middle of the action — because you are. But it also means you sometimes can’t see actor’s faces and things may be happening behind you. Arrive early, as a working bar in the back of the theater opens 45 minutes before the show begins.

A minor quibble: the play has lots of flashbacks, but the musical cue that announces those quickly becomes annoying and intrusive.

“Clown Bar” is Theatre Conspiracy at its best.

It’s a fun, zany, off-the-wall, absurd night at the theater.

And — good news — Theatre Conspiracy plans to stage “Clown Bar 2” next summer.

If clowns don’t give you the heebie-jeebies, you should go see “Clown Bar.”

Where: Theatre Conspiracy, Foulds Theatre, 10091 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers

Information: 239-939-2787 or www.artinlee.org

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