Not your childhood take on Shel Silverstein.

The press releases warning “This ain’t no Giving Tree,” the pre-show Metallica and the sign advising playgoers to “Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here” prepare you for a night of mature themes. It’s too bad the very first segment of An Adult Evening with Shel Silverstein is so boring.

All seven parts of this collection of Silverstein plays has two or three characters working with a central conceit — but the first segment is the least interesting. Here, a man and a woman find the above enigmatic sign. Ostensibly intrigued by and fearless of the sign, performer Frederick Henderson seems to be just reading his lines. Dena Colvin entertains a bit by accusing her counterpart of fearing Koreans and ass-rape, but the lack of drama made this reviewer keen to abandon the production, in Studio Theatre’s Mead Theatre, from the start. Fortunately, Colvin gets a chance to shine later as a rhyming prostitute, which is one of the other short plays that make this Fringe offering worth seeing all the way through.

Silverstein’s playful, lyrical words are brought to life in all the pieces following this segment. Samantha Merrick plays a woman in danger of becoming a bag lady, and Arturo Tolentino, who also designed the spare, transformable set, plays her concerned husband. The two are hilarious together, getting caught up in the drama of just what is in the woman’s bag. Colvin comes back as that rhyming prostitute, offering a two-for-one deal that’s the steal of the century with cast member Julie Harris. When Samuel Wright comes in as their mark and proves troublesome, Colvin is quick to offer to “shorten” his “longevity,” with a knife. Merrick also comes back as a wife constructing an elaborate story to find out if her husband, played this time by Dane C. Peterson, would throw her, their daughter or his mother overboard in a crisis.

Tough and hilarious gems come out there as well as in the segment “The Best Daddy”, in which a father may or may not have killed his 13-year-old daughter’s birthday pony. And Tolentino steals the stage again later as an exacting “wash and dry” owner with a pointed argument about paying attention.

Expect poetry and humor, often together, in this Adult Evening. Just don’t abandon all hope in the first five minutes.

An Adult Evening With Shel Silverstein has four remaining performances: July 10, 16, 20 and 22. Tickets are available online.