Have you noticed that Christmas comes earlier every year? That’s not so heartwarming when you’re talking about stores and wish lists and bank accounts. But with Penobscot Theatre’s production of “Inspecting Carol,” which opened over the weekend and runs through Dec. 6, an early start is nothing short of a holiday romp. Playwright Daniel Sullivan, with the Seattle Repertory Company, has set the action of this wild show right smack in the middle of a small theater company’s rehearsals for “A Christmas Carol,” an annual favorite for theatergoing audiences and a sure-fire fund-raiser for theaters. After all, as Charles Dickens knew, Christmas is a time when people’s hearts warm up and become more generous.

That’s true of most hearts, but not of the National Endowment for the Arts, which has charged this theater company with “a significant artistic deficit.” Thus, an evaluator is scheduled to show up — anytime now — to decide if the theater qualifies for the $30,000 it has generally received each year.

The tough part is that the theater bookkeeper has just announced bankruptcy. There are bills, but no cash, and if the theater closes, the founding members, most of whom are in the resident company, will have to cough it up. Not a happy position for actors, who, in most struggling companies, have their own cash-flow problems.

Although “A Christmas Carol” is the perfect vehicle for a play about theater budgets and values, the backdrop for “Inspecting Carol” could be any production in a typical season. The show exposes the lengths to which theater administrators and artists will go to garner money at a time when federal funding has disappeared from the coffers — and that’s a year-round problem.

Director Jay Skriletz has brought the issues right into our own backyards with a bird’s eye version of “Inspecting Carol.” As set designer, he has fashioned a mini version of Penobscot Theatre’s original stage onto the stage at the Bangor Opera House. In short, we are looking into the problems and quirks of theater companies throughout our country, but also right here on Main Street.

What’s more, Skriletz has cast many of the actors local audiences are accustomed to seeing in Penobscot’s productions of “A Christmas Carol” through the years. So this show begins with an edge of self-reflection that pulls us all into the mix.

But Sullivan carries it further with clever writing and hilarious situations. For instance, Phil, the actor (within an actor!) playing Bob Cratchit, has a bad back (not to mention a bad attitude), and Luther, the actor playing Tiny Tim, has outgrown the role. Phil suggests to the director that Tiny Tim has been so well-trained by his father that he can actually walk, and doesn’t have to be carried. The sight gags that follow are comedy at its best.

In fact, this is one of the funniest productions Penobscot Theatre has put on since “A Flea in Her Ear.” On opening night, the audience was simply howling with laughter while the cast twisted and turned to both get the show together and to impress Wayne, a young actor who has shown up for an audition, but whom they believe is secretly the NEA agent.

It’s not easy singling out members of this cast for accolades. Generally speaking, the actors are consistently entertaining and well-suited to their roles. Nevertheless, Leslie Michaud, as the Lithuanian artistic director, flexes her talent in a new and exciting way. Ken Stack, as the seasoned and wily actor playing Scrooge, is also vivacious. Both actors give themselves over silkenly to these roles, but never slip into caricature.

Newcomer Maggie McKee pairs with veteran Michael Weinstein as an older theatrical couple, and they are perfectly matched as they dance their own little two-step throughout the evening.

But truly, everyone is this cast — Tamela Glenn, Mike Abernathy, Isaac Rosen, Brian Berry, Geoff Gary, Robert Libbey, Joshua Sanders and Lisa Goodness — is in the holiday spirit — and cynicism — of the show. The only drawback of the show is that almost none of the actors speak with adequate volume. Too many of the lines float into the Opera House’s high ceiling, and it’s a shame to miss any of the jokes in this smartly crafted, often politically charged, play.

If you’re feeling the encroaching bah-humbug of the holidays, “Inspecting Carol” will put you in a good mood. It will also remind you that running a theater requires extraordinary skills of dedication, adaptation, and genuflection.

The Penobscot Theatre will present “Inspecting Carol” at 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 6 at the Opera House.