Casey Hoolahan as Mistress Page, left, and Deanna Sparrow as Mistress Ford discover that the love letters they received from John Falstaff are the same in Hobnob Theatre's “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Michael Dittman/Special to the Eagle

Everyone loves to see a scoundrel squirm, and Hobnob Theatre Company’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” brings audiences a satisfying dose of farcical revenge. This year's production, updated to be set in the 1920s by director Stefan Lingenfelter, offers an evening of pithy dialogue, original songs and comic comeuppance.

Lingenfelter has smartly leaned into the play’s themes, highlighting the timeless dangers of underestimating women. The three plots — wives vs. Falstaff, a lovers’ triangle and a duel gone awry — are woven together by the production’s cheeky tone and its celebration of women’s wit. Despite the occasional challenge of open-air acoustics, the cast is more than up to the task, delivering lines with palpable joy.

At the center of this tangled tale is Sir John Falstaff, played with bombast by Drew Breslawski. His Falstaff struts and blusters, all the while unaware he is the butt of the joke. Targeting two respectable married women with his lecherous schemes, Breslawski plays Falstaff with gleeful slapstick as he becomes a walking punchline who’s dunked, duped and dressed in drag.

As the titular merry wives, Deanna Sparrow (Mistress Ford) and Casey Hoolahan (Mistress Page) are delightful. Their comic timing is sharp, their chemistry electric and their love of mischief palpable. These women are not only the smartest characters onstage, they’re also the moral centers of the play as they outwit anyone who underestimates them.

The characters surrounding the leads all deliver standout moments. Megan Flannery’s Pistol, sleek and sly, breaks the fourth wall with delight, while Sarah Altomari’s boisterous Mistress Quickly captures laughs with her big comic energy and a thick Cockney accent. Kevin Vespaziani delights with every second of his stage time as Doctor Caius, a pompous French physician complete with an outrageous mustache and a petty tyrant’s temper. He and Ken Smith — as the cheese-loving, ukulele-toting Welsh parson Sir Hugh — are a study in comic excess; and Smith gets to show off his singing voice in one of the original songs.

Casey Bowser, doubling as Master Ford and his alter ego “Brook,” adds surprising depth to the comedy. His Ford seethes with jealousy, but in disguise, he exposes a raw vulnerability that hints at something richer beneath the silliness. Logan Andres’ Anne Page, pouty and pampered, anchors the romantic subplot, courted by suitors including Grant Clark’s sincere Fenton and Tyler Bassett’s painfully awkward Slender.

The rest of the cast brings colorful life to the outdoor stage. Laura Crago snaps her fan like a saber as the respectable but still roguish Justice Shallow, while Stefon Austin’s Simple is as his name suggests: kindhearted and more than a little bewildered. Justin Macurdy plays a sly Master Page, and Kari-Anne Innes earns big laughs in her brief but memorable turn as the Hostess of the Garter Inn showing off her fencing skills.

Hobnob’s “Merry Wives” is brisk, bawdy and bubbling with the kind of theatrical mischief that reminds us why Shakespeare still charms: bad guys lose, smart women win and everyone, cast included, is having the time of their lives.

“The Merry Wives of Windsor” continues its run this weekend, the show begins at 6:30 p.m. July 25 through 27, at Preston Park Arboretum.

Tickets can be purchased at hobnobtheatre.com or for $10 at the park. The show runs 120 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.