University Theatre embarked upon its 2009-2010 season Friday with “Is He Dead?,” a breezy hidden identity comedy penned by the inimitable Mark Twain.

Twain’s play languished among a collection of manuscripts for more than 100 years before it was plucked out by a scholar, trimmed down by a playwright and made its theatrical debut in 2007.

No one could accuse Twain, who wasn’t exactly known for writing plays, of missing his calling — “Is He Dead?” is hardly a revelation.

The humor is uncharacteristically broad, and fans of Twain’s razor-edge wit will find nary a satiric bone in this play’s body.

But it manages to come together pleasantly, even if the gender-bending humor and intentionally stereotypic characters are all too typical. OU’s cast throws itself full-fledged into the physical comedy, resulting in an appropriately blithe production that feels like just the way to open the season.

“Is He Dead?” presents a fictionalized account of realist painter Jean-François Millet, who was featured prominently in the Oklahoma City Museum of Art exhibit, “Turner to Cézanne,” that just wrapped up.

Millet (drama senior Paul Stuart) is exceedingly down on his luck — his apartment is full of paintings he can’t even give away and without any money, he has little hope of marrying sweetheart Marie (drama sophomore Morgen Reed).

To make matters worse, he’s got a sniveling creditor, Bastien André (drama junior Colin Welch), breathing down his neck to pay back his debt or allow Marie to marry him as an alternative.

Millet’s buddies — a stereotypical fast-talking American named Chicago (drama junior Daniel Bevan), a stereotypical hot-tempered Irishman named O’Shaughnessy (drama sophomore Sam Boeck) and a stereotypical loopy Frenchman named Dutchy (drama sophomore Kevin Percival) — cook up a scheme that’s sure to send demand for his paintings through the roof.

It’s common knowledge that an artist’s acclaim requires his or her death to really achieve a fever pitch, so the trio fakes his death, and hides Millet in plain sight — in drag, as his imaginary sister, Daisy. Hijinks ensue.

Stuart instantaneously leaps out of his acting box the moment he’s jammed into a corset, a gown and high heels. There’s a certain quality in theater that almost guarantees some laughs from cross-dressing, but Stuart pushes the expected comedy to even greater heights with his frantic, loony performance.

The second act follows a formulaic path, with André falling for his disguised debtor, and the entire charade beginning to crumble, but it manages to keep up its steam until the final comic payoff that’s no less funny despite its predictability.

The performances threaten to become too over-the-top constantly, especially Welch in a full-on Snidely Whiplash impersonation, but it mostly works to the show’s advantage and keeps the humor from feeling too stale.

“Is He Dead?” is solid escapist comedy to stave off those homework doldrums, and it’s worth the price of admission just for a hilarious scene where the very funny Percival demonstrates the proper way to sit down in a dress.

“Is He Dead?” is playing now through Sept. 27 at the Weitzenhoffer Theatre. Performances are Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $22 for adults, $14 for students.