The Pennsylvania Playhouse is ahead of the political trends with the Lehigh Valley regionally-produced premiere of “November,” an acerbic look at Washington, D.C., politics.

With the general election in Pennsylvania next month and the presidential debates ongoing in advance of the 2016 United States presidential election, the Playhouse couldn’t have chosen a more timely comedy.

“November” continues at 8 p.m. Oct. 2, 3; 3 p.m. Oct. 4; 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8; 8 p.m. Oct. 9, 10, and 3 p.m. Oct. 11, Pennsylvania Playhouse, Illick’s Mill Road, Bethlehem.

Playwright David Mamet (“Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Speed-The-Plow”) spares no political targets in a comedy that is at once thoughtful and hilarious.

Playhouse Director Ralph Montesano hits all the right talking points in the script, which takes no political prisoners and is an equal-opportunity offender to the left and right of the spectrum. The play is deeply cynical and very funny.

The impressive and handsome set design by Montesano conveys the grandeur of the Oval Office. Set Construction is by Brett Oliveira. Set Painting is by Mickey Brown. Lighting Designer is Dan Lewis. The high walls, complete with detailing and tan and cream vertical wall paper; the Presidential Seal on the floor; desk, sofa and mementos, is presidential. The oval office is the arena, not unlike a bull ring, with the actors pacing to and fro.

It’s the last week before the presidential election. President Charles Smith (Pat Kelly) is trying come up with a last-minute strategy with Archer Brown (Eric D. Hersh), his advisor, to gain re-election.

Smith’s behind in the polls. He needs a big speech. However, Clarice Bernstein (Laura Sweeney Riker), his speech writer, is demanding that Smith marry her and her female domestic partner. The play’s 2006 setting (the play opened in 2008) is years before the 2015 Supreme Court decision that same-sex couples be allowed to legally marry.

Add to the mix a $200-million fundraising campaign from the oddly-named character, Turkey Guy (Joseph Klucsarits), to buy TV air-time for Smith’s political ads; the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon; Smith’s desire to burnish his image with a presidential library, all complicated by the arrival of Native American Chief Dwight Grackle (Jerry Brucker).

The play, with an approximate two-hour run time (including two 10-min. intermissions), moves deliberately, building to a sense of impending doom.

Not only is the play surprisingly relevant, and somewhat prescient, with respect to same-sex marriage, it also references the recent debate of the celebration of Thanksgiving, and the status of illegal aliens. All of this is done with wicked humor. The need to build a fence along the United States-Mexico border is complicated, it’s joked, because illegal aliens will probably be needed to build it.

Mamet also celebrates the American spirit, the “shade-tree mechanics” who made it great. The dialogue is somewhat poetic: “low winter lights that lead toward spring.”

The performances are very believable. Kelly handles the dialogue effortlessly, making it sound like off-the-cuff remarks. Hersh is an effective brooding presence. Klucsarits is engagingly abrasive. Sweeney Riker is sweetly determined. Brucker nicely underplays a dangerously stereotypical part.

Costume designers are Cheryl Wenhold and Vicki Montesano, who make sure there’s a change of suits to convey time passages,

Note: The play has its share of f-bombs and mature content.

“November” may ensure that you cast your vote Nov. 3 and beyond. Meanwhile, cast your vote for “November,” your ticket for laughter where the campaign is comedy.