They say politics make strange bedfellows, and Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, now on the boards at 6th@Penn Theatre in Hillcrest, is a good example.

This is certainly Puig’s best-known work in the English-speaking world, thanks to the 1985 film starring William Hurt and Raul Julia. Set in an Argentinean jail cell, Kiss of the Spider Woman is a political piece about two men tossed together by a repressive system that considers both of them dangers to society (or at least to those in power).

Outwardly, these men make a very odd couple. Committed revolutionary Valentín (Giancarlo Ruiz) is both willing to die for his cause and to forego personal relationships in the process (or so he says, though his emotions often betray him). Drag queen Molina (Douglas Lay), on the other hand (jailed, like Oscar Wilde, for “gross indecency”), is just looking for a relationship – the perfect husband, to be precise. (“Since there’s nothing better than a good woman, I want to be one,” he says.)

Valentín’s political tomes and determination to study (“I don’t want events to get the better of me, I want to know why they happen”) contrast with Molina’s stash of oft-read star magazines and his dedication to beauty. To while the time away, Molina relates the plot of one romantic movie after another to the annoyed Valentín, who at first considers the pastime frivolous, but gets pulled in as their incarceration drags on.

The drama is in watching these two men, who would not likely be friends on the outside, draw closer together, where they cannot get away. In this uncertain and uncontrollable environment where the goal is to get out alive, the outcasts Valentín and Molina reach out to each other.

There is no theatrical razzle-dazzle here; this is a talky two-character play, which takes place almost entirely in an Argentinean jail cell. But it is a fascinating piece of theater when done this well. Director Doug Hoehn plays it straight, even to the taped dialogue between Molina and the warden (which in the film was moved to a different set).

Ruiz is a perfect no-nonsense political prisoner who gradually comes to regard Molina as a friend. Lay is magnificent as the swishy and most engaging Molina.

Kiss of the Spider Woman plays through Mar. 31 at 6th@Penn Theatre, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. For tickets, call (619) 688-9210.