Think up any small-town American spot. Add some rednecks, an Aunt Pearl, a conservative group that wants to ban “Roots” because it shows only one side of the slavery issue, and a prize-winning essay called “Human Rights: Why Bother?” What do you have?

We’ll skip the long answer. The short answer is “Greater Tuna,” a two-man, 20-character play by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard. About 17 years ago, these guys were working a nightclub act together, and when the show closed, they decided to get serious — mostly about fundamentalist conservatism. Around a radio show called WKKK (get it?) in the unreal municipality of Tuna, Texas, the writers wove together satiric vignettes about pigheaded politics, wacko characters and backwood lawlessness. The show was a smash hit in Houston, Hartford and Atlanta before showing up off-Broadway and eventually on cable TV. For two years running, it was the most-produced play in the country.

“Greater Tuna,” now a cult piece, has had successful runs in Maine, too. Last night, the much-respected Northern Lights Theatre pitched its tent at Penobscot Theatre in Bangor and brought all the Tunatics ya-hooing back into town.

On a set that consists of a couple of tables and a radio, actors Kent C. McKusick and Ron Adams put on the hats — and wigs, eyeglasses, dresses and cowboy boots — of the entire Tuna neighborhood. They dig right into die-hard bigotry and throw up some dirt that is yuk-it-up funny. McKusick (who sportily directed this) and Adams are both fervently intelligent actors. They use twang, say dang, and then grab a moment of stark truth and twist it tight. Plus they change costumes lickety-split. And best of all, they are a hoot.

Some may find the slim-headed chatter tedious. But this is no canned “Tuna.” It’s fresh and frightfully amusing.

Northern Lights Theatre will present “Greater Tuna,” 5 and 8:30 p.m. Sept. 12 and 2 p.m. Sept. 13 at Penobscot Theatre, 183 Main St. in Bangor. For general admission tickets, call 942-3333.