Promotional material from “Socrates The Lover”.

Ancient Greek plays. I find them a bit uninteresting and dated, as a whole. They’re so 2,500 years ago. Dress ’em up with a gimmick or two, some cute songs, a pair of boobs, gay and straight cavorting, and Batman underwear (what!?), and you add a little excitement to the proceedings. It took a little while for me to develop any strong feelings one way or the other about Socrates the Lover. But the play grew on me.

A quick glance at the notes in the program is helpful to appreciate Out of the Black Box Theater’s attempt to entertain while teaching about Socrates’ life and death. Writer and director Bill Jones takes about half of the play directly from publicly available translations from ancient works.

Jack Wassell plays the legendary philosopher with a straightforward manner that makes the sometimes complicated dialogue accessible. With messy hair and just enough pudge under his tunic, he looks like a Socrates, too. A chorus of four (each young woman takes a turn as a character in Socrates’ life as well) adds a gentle, colorful and modern presence. I don’t know enough about the ancient writings to always know whether they’re singing Plato’s words or a silly Bill Jones interpretation of Plato. But their harmonies overall strike a nice chord.

Socrates the Lover takes a little bit of enduring (especially for those wary of Ancient Greek plays). But endure, and you just might learn a little something along the way.

Socrates the Lover has three remaining performances on July 15, 20, and 24. Tickets are available online.