If you need a little extra pep in your step, look no further than the Hayes Theatre Co where its new production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is guaranteed to lift your spirits and send you home smiling.

Rowan Witt, Kristina McNarama and Blake Erickson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Photo © John McRae

The 2004 show with music and lyrics by David Yazbeck and book by Jeffrey Lane is a wonderfully old-fashioned, joyous piece of musical comedy – fast, irresistibly playful, laugh-out-loud funny and a delight from start to finish.

Last seen in Sydney in 2013, this staging may not quite match that stunning production, but it comes pretty close.

Based on the 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is set in the French Riviera where two conmen with their sights set on wealthy women – the suave, sophisticated Lawrence Jameson and the younger, brasher Freddy Benson – compete to swindle $50,000 from a soap heiress called Christine Colgate. The loser must leave town.

Yazbeck’s deliciously witty songs are full of inventive rhymes (Oklahoma and melanoma, for one) and double entendres, combined with beguiling, catchy melodies that will have you singing as you leave the theatre. Musical Director Dylan Pollard and his assistant Lindsay Kaul have done a terrific job in adapting Yazbeck’s orchestrated score for the intimate Hayes, with the six-piece band sending the music soaring.

Directed by Rebecca McNamee, the production takes place on Soham Apte’s cleverly designed pastel-coloured set, with a small staircase and balustraded walkway on a revolve creating different scenes, from a train to a hotel. A water fountain is equally versatile, becoming a table and a roulette wheel among other things

Angelina Daniel’s costumes mostly work a treat, from the stylish, debonair look for Lawrence to the comical outfits for Benson, such as when he’s pretending to be Lawrence’s loopy, sex-mad brother Ruprecht. However, the fluoro activewear worn in one scene by the ensemble looks jarringly out of place.

Aurélie Roque and Jordan Shea in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Photo © John McRae

The success of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels depends to a large degree on the two performers playing the central conmen – and Blake Erickson as Lawrence and Rowan Witt as Freddy are both superb.

Under McNamee’s direction, Erickson exudes just the right cosmopolitan savoir-faire as Lawrence, as well as a touch of genuine, heartfelt emotion towards the end, while Witt is ludicrously funny as the vulgar upstart Freddy with a passing parade of hilarious expressions. They bounce off each other brilliantly, while their vocals are equally impressive. In fact, they are perfect casting, managing to make the two scoundrels eminently likeable despite their dubious shenanigans.

After a slightly hesitant start, Kristina McNamara gives a lovely performance as the kind, generous, somewhat clumsy Christine, who is not quite what she seems.

In a romantic sub-plot, Aurélie Roque is very funny as Muriel Eubanks, a droll American divorcée who is fleeced by Lawrence, then becomes involved with his side-kick, the corrupt Chief of Police played by Jordan Shea – who make the most of an atrocious French accent.

Scarlet Lindsay plays Jolene Oakes, who comes from an oil-rich family and is determined to marry Lawrence and take him home to her parents’ Oklahoma ranch. (“Did I miss a scene?” asks Lawrence in a hilarious aside to the audience as she discusses their wedding.)

Cameron Boxall does an amazing job in filling the tiny stage with lively choreography, performed to the max by the committed five-strong ensemble.

All in all, it’s great fun. If the world is getting to you and you’d like to indulge in some charming escapism, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels could be just what you need.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels plays at the Hayes Theatre Co, Sydney until 21 June. More information here. It then tours to Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, 25–28 June. More information here.