Cherry Red’s production of ‘Wife Swappers’ is bawdy, yet thoughtful and sincere

Sex and nudity aren’t just for the young and firm. Nor are hypocrisy, jealousy, insecurity, holier-than-thou moralizing or even, as it happens, arbitrary, outta-nowhere plot twists. These are the broad takeaways from “Wife Swappers,” Los Angeles dramatist Justin Tanner’s new play from which you are advised to maintain a distance of not less than 500 yards if nudity or frank — nay, openly crass — discussion of sex offends you. (Cherry Red does not recommend it for kids under 18, and presumably you must be at least 21 to purchase the Jell-O shots offered for sale in the house with the admirable disclosure “We’re funnier when you’re drunk.” Hear, hear.)

Cherry Red Productions, which proudly bills itself as “Washington’s Only Theater Company Devoted to Smut,” is reactivating itself after a three-year siesta from the stage with this production, and though I’ve not seen the company’s prior efforts (many of which sported titles unprintable in a family newspaper), I can say I’m glad they’re back. This despite the fact that “Wife Swappers” has just enough good ideas and funny moments to sustain its slender one-hour running time.

The premise is simple: We follow an attractive couple in the early part of their marriage to an Orange County swingers’ party. He (Carlos Bustamante) is ready to play, but she (Judith Baicich, displaying fine comic instincts) has reservations, and it’s the way their exposed-to-the-light inhibitions rub up against those of the two older, veteran swinger couples that makes the evening go.

For a show that seems to pride itself on its open-mindedness — its most sympathetic character is a transvestite played by the very funny Lucrezia Blozia — it comes down awfully hard on its aging libertines, making them unrepentant homophobes who find gay sex (and seemingly no other kind) repugnant. But there’s something paradoxically very charming about the way it invites its performers to let it all — no, really, all — hang out without judging them for being physically ordinary middle-age specimens: soft and round, pale and hairy, by all appearances having denied themselves no indulgence.

Speaking of which: For me, the most repellent moments came when the dirty talk was mixed indiscriminately with discussions of recipes. We’ve all got our hangups. That Tanner and co-directors Ian Allen (who founded the company in 1995 before moving to New York City) and Kate Debelack want to pull them out and look them over is not, or is not merely, exploitation. Dignity ought to be a humanizing trait, not a set of shackles. Though not every joke lands, “Wife Swappers” is a thoughtful, sincere exploration of that polarity — that doesn’t skimp on the smut, thank goodness.