Let's put it in context: "The Little Dog Laughed" is a recent gay-themed New York comedy hit with nudity and raw language. That's not a new genre for Richmond -- which has a couple of theaters that regularly present such plays -- but it is new for the mainstream Barksdale.

Yet Douglas Carter Beane's 2006 play is more than that. Witty, stinging, it's a cynical sendup of Hollywood types that somehow also manages to expose the wounded hearts of people who are afraid to be who they are. And it's a yummy acting feast to boot.

Mitchell, a young movie actor on the rise, is trying hard to pretend he's not gay. In a New York hotel on business, he orders up a male prostitute one night. This turns out to be Alex, who says he's straight and tricking just for the cash. Alex has a girlfriend, Ellen, to prove it -- but he quickly falls for Mitchell. This is a problem for his ruthless lesbian agent Diane, who moves quickly to ward off the impending threat to his movie-idol potential.

Beane lards the dialogue with irresistibly funny one-liners ("Talking to you is like sewing a button on cottage cheese"), but he also writes rich monologues for Diane that set up the delicious Hollywood-bashing. And then there's a masterful scene in which Diane and Mitchell execute the joint seduction of an unseen gay playwright over a restaurant lunch. (They want to buy the film rights to his play.)

That's rich fodder for Susan Sanford, who makes a triumphant return from L.A. to knock the role of Diane out of the park. Even with an opening-night touch of laryngitis, she was a powerhouse, a sort of feral godmother making Mitch's dreams of stardom come true. Sanford plays Diane as a shark, breezily lying one minute, brutally telling truth the next, and she makes every line tasty.

John Kenneth DeBoer as Mitchell is more problematic. His weaseling is believable, but he lacks the charisma to make the ambition credible. Matt Hackman, on the other hand, is heartbreaking as vulnerable Alex: We can see that he's open and easily hurt. Likewise Laine Satterfield gives a bold performance as Ellen, a wounded but wacky child of the suburbs who is looking for some security in the city, where she's partied too long.

Bruce Miller has directed with great sensitivity, especially to the deeper question of the play -- what happens when you deny your nature because it's unacceptable to some people? And he's brought the best resources of the Barksdale to the production, including excellent and complex lighting by Lynne M. Hartman, a sleek set by Brian Kalin (it's hoped that an opening-night malfunction will be swiftly corrected), and note-perfect costumes by Sue Griffin.