Since 2005, Easy Street Players Theater Company has quietly and diligently been putting on some of the best spoofs and comedies around. From "Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical" to "Laugher on the 23rd Floor," Easy Street has shown us just how much fun theater can be. With their newest production, Charles Busch’s "Psycho Beach Party", they keep the good times rolling.

The story is your typical coming-of-age tale of the young Chicklet Forrest trying to find her way in the topsy-turvy world of 1960’s Malibu and its beach party lifestyle. The only problem is her penchants for multiple personalities, one of which likes nothing more than a little S&M with a beach bum while plotting her way towards world domination. Luckily for Chicklet she’s got a philosophy spouting best friend and a psychology student turned beach bum to help her along. And then of course there’s Chicklet’s mom, but that’s another story.

Director David Williams and large cast of ten fills up the intimate studio at the Athenaeum with an infectious energy and wonderful pacing that goes hand in hand with the sand strewn stage and whimsical, hand-painted backgrounds. Even with such a large cast, they worked well together and the stage never felt overcrowded. But that’s not to say there weren’t some standout performances. Meredith Wood, who plays Chicklet, switches in and out of her personalities so fluidly that it is almost not funny; wait for her empowered supermarket check out girl, you’ll be sorry when she snaps out of it. Then there’s Steve Hickson, the reigning Miss Looptopia. He not only shows why he’s Chicago’s king of drag with every uncanny gesture and phrase but how to really wield a jockstrap in heels as Chicklet’s mother, Mrs. Forrest. And make sure to keep an eye on the background work done by the whole cast, you’ll be glad you did. All you have to do is check it out for yourself.

"Psycho Beach Party," Wednesdays through Saturdays, September 27 to October 20, 8pm, Athenaeum Theatre 2936 N. Southport, $15.

- Andy Garrett