BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Best known for its acclaimed page-to-stage ventures such as “Gatz” and “The Select (The Sun Also Rises),” Elevator Repair Service now offers a somewhat less epic -- but no less creative -- event in its latest production “Arguendo,” which bowed this week at the Public Theater.

Lawyers will especially savor this offbeat show, which brings to amusing life the verbatim transcript of a 1991 Supreme Court case in which some exotic dancers – claiming their artistic rights under the First Amendment -- sought to overturn an Indiana ban on public nudity.

Some of the humor derives from the incongruity of formal legalese-speak with terms like “g-string” and “pasties.” Much of the fun stems from the oddball remarks, attitudes and vocal quirks of the Supreme Court justices themselves.

Various leaps and convolutions of logic are wittily delineated through Ben Rubin’s projection design, which madly scrolls, zooms and roller-coasters through dense white-on-black texts of various legal precedents and statutes that glow across the background.

John Collins, the director, and Katherine Profeta, billed as the “movement dramaturg,” animate these verbal thickets very cleverly as the black-robed justices wheel around the space with increasing frenzy in their high-backed swivel chairs. These choreographed bumper-car motions grow ever more frantic as the 80-minute proceedings unfold against a percussive sound design by Matt Tierney.

The show’s capper involves an unexpected bout of full-frontal nudity.

The company-developed creation is performed with gusto and comical character details by Maggie Hoffman, Mike Iveson, Vin Knight, Susie Sokol (especially droll as Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and Ben Williams, who portray the justices, the lawyers, the reporters and others involved in the case.

Designer David Zinn’s red and black setting neatly accommodates the action and projections.

For all of these evident smarts, this co-production by Elevator Repair Service and the Public Theater may prove to be just so much legal jabberwocky to some viewers. No doubt that others will be tickled by the company’s typically inventive mix of verbatim text, smart visuals and kinetic performances.

“Arguendo” continues through Oct. 27 at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., New York. Call (212) 967-7555 or visit www.publictheater.org.

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