Directors often advance the notion that "Forum" is more meaningful when Pseudolus is truly invested in his dream of freedom. I think it achieves profundity when Pseudolus sips from a bottle of wine and asks, "Was 1 a good year?" (Bless you, Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart.) If Shevelove and Gelbart's book sates your appetite for one-liners, the look of [Gary Griffin]'s "Forum" puts you in the right frame for farce. Set designer Lou Stancari has conjured a campy Roman street in earth tones out of "The Flintstones": three cartoon- ready houses with flapping doors and numerous porches and balconies for quick getaways and the safe stashing away of virgins. Particularly clever is the evocation of the establishment of Lycus, the local pimp, as a one-house red-light district. Among the supporting players, [Harry A. Winter]'s Senex and [Christopher Bloch]'s Lycus share the prize for best in show. Winter is a dream as the father with the wandering eye, a much different sort of dad than he played in last season's "110 in the Shade," and Bloch gets the sleaze down perfectly. Steven Cupo's Erronius, the old man who runs seven times around the city, is also a treat. Both [Donna Migliaccio] and Christopher Flint, as the preening [Miles Gloriosus], are in excellent voice, and Lauren Williams, a Catholic University student making her Signature debut, is pleasingly ditsy as the empty-headed ingenue, Philia. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart; music and lyrics by [Stephen Sondheim]. Directed by Gary Griffin. Lighting, Mike Daniels; music direction, Jon Kalbfleisch. With Sean MacLaughlin, David Covington, Stephen Gregory Smith, R. Scott Thompson, Tryphena Wade, Kara-Tameika Watkins, Amanda Johnson, Tammy Roberts. Approximately 2 hours 20 minutes. Through Dec. 14 at Signature Theatre, 3806 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington. Call 800-955-5566 or visit www.signature- theatre.org....

Signature's Roman Candle Of a Comedy; Many Funny Things Happen On the Way to This 'Forum': FINAL Edition