Even before Key City Public Theatre’s “pay what you will” production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” gets under way in Chetzemoka Park, volunteers warn folks to keep body parts, pets and clothing away from the center aisle.

“There are a lot of acrobatics that take place through here,” they say. The warning those volunteers fail to issue is that you are in mortal danger: You may end up laughing so hard that your sides will split.

Even people who aren’t Shakespeare aficionados know that, in addition to tragedies such as “Hamlet” and “King Lear,” Shakespeare wrote comedy. What they may not know, however, is that, when done right, as KCPT’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” certainly is, Shakespeare’s comedies can be so funny that the historical barrier of 424 or so years simply falls away, leaving you with humor so timeless as to inspire wonder. That was certainly my experience many, many (many) decades ago, when I attended my first production of “The Taming of the Shrew” at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, and was impelled to ask an usher, with naive incredulity, “Did you change the language to make it this funny?”

Alas and alack, it’s not always like that with Shakespeare’s comedies. Take, for example, the readily available DVD of the 1969 Peter Hall production for the BBC starring Helen Mirren and Paul Rogers. The language is breathtaking, but the production oh so proper and English that the humor seems under lock and key.

You’ll have no such problems in Port Townsend. The excellent Blaine Lewis (Theseus, Duke of Athens) and Doug Taylor (Egeus, an Athenian nobleman) may speak with seemingly authentic Shakespearean accents, but the young lovers, especially Maggie Jo Bulkley (the pouty Helena), intentionally sound modern. Bulkley, in fact, comes across more like a cross between a Valley Girl and the vengeful lead in “Carrie the Musical.” The more upset she gets, the more spoiled and preposterous she sounds. Is it even necessary to say that this is but one of director Duncan Frost’s and artistic director Denise Winter’s countless innovations that make this production so winning?

One of the production’s other tricks involves acrobatics. One second, you’re watching the absolutely delightful Tomoki Sage (Puck) on the main stage, and the next second, he’s up on a balcony or roof. Blink and you miss it. Ditto for the equally wonderful David Natale (the fairy king Oberon), who proves that, with age, magic deepens.

And then there are the Athenian “craftsmen,” here played like a bunch of less than intelligent, lower-class buffoons. Yes, there is more than a bit of slapstick and Archie Bunker to this merry little band, as well as enough classism to account for the ascendance of Donald Trump as the self-crowned King of the Bully Bastards. But, oh, are they funny.

Kenn Mann (Nick Bottom), a recent transplant from New York to Port Townsend who’d better not leave, ever, is a scream. He may be a big boy, but his spirit is hearty, his movements agile, and the wink in his eye irresistible. Amy E. Sousa (Titania) is his equivalent in the fairy kingdom, welcoming everyone in on the joke and having a ball with everything she has to offer. These two, along with Sage and Natale, definitively prove that play is the thing.

Then there is D.D. Wigley (Snug), bless her/his lion’s mane. She’s not only funny as can be, but also deeply endearing. In fact, everyone in this bumbling little troop of fools is.

There’s no one in this cast, including the delightful students, who doesn’t deserve praise. It’s fair to say that once you see this production, you’ll be hoping to meet everyone involved at the Food Co-op or QFC so you can thank them for affirming what a joy life can be.

One year ago, when we moved to Port Townsend, neighbors were quick to announce that Key City Public Theatre’s productions can be “variable.” Forewarned by someone on the next block that KCPT’s Shakespeare has bombed at least once, I feared this would be a fourth-rate student production for which criticism would merit a one-way ticket out of town.

Praise be to Puck, KCPT’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is nothing of the sort. It is, plain and simple, a triumph of wit and ingenuity. Brava/bravo to one and all for providing yet one more reason to love and celebrate life in Port Townsend.

(Jason Victor Serinus is a music and theater critic and opera/art song instructor at Peninsula College.)