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In what is perhaps a theater first, director Paul Graffy’s most pressing note to his leading man was that he needed to be more narcissistic. After all, how many actors need to be prompted to be more self-assured.

But to play Hedwig, the title character of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” Michael McAvoy is going to need to reach stratospheric heights of self-appreciation.

He’s also going to need a little grooming.

“Michael will have gotten another wax by then,” says John McKerrow, the producer who is bringing the raucous and raunchy play to the Sugden Community Theatre. The production plays only three days, ending Sunday.

Grooming is probably the least of McAvoy’s worries. He is taking on the role of the acerbic and risqué “Hedwig,” which means he’s in full drag, wearing black hot pants and a matching corset under another yet-to-be-created outlandish outfit. If his voice sounds a bit pinched, it could be that the rest of him is, too.

Besides the costuming, Hedwig is a big departure for McAvoy, 26. He’s played leading man roles before, such as Sky Masterson in “Guys and Dolls” and the Beast in a recent production of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Sugden.

“I was getting tired of those typical roles for guys in musicals,” McAvoy says of his decision to audition for the part. “This is a role that’s outside of that. Something that’s taking me in a different direction.”

Told through a concert performance by Hedwig and her band, the Angry Inch, the play tells the story of a young, gay East German man named Hansel, who is looking for the missing piece in his life: his soul mate. What he finds instead is an American GI willing to marry him.

But there’s a catch, Hansel has to have a sex change so the soon-to-be she can pass a physical for a woman. Hansel agrees to a back-alley operation that goes awry. Hasel becomes Hedwig, but she’s left with the inch of flesh of the title where a penis used to be.

Music becomes her solace, and the audience is catapulted into a concert that is her bid for the attention she believes she deserves.

John Cameron Mitchell’s play swims in the same waters as Oscar Wilde — tight and witty. In fact, a good bit of knowledge of pop culture and history is help with some of the show’s jokes: When listing off the cascade of names that makes up a law firm, the last two are Masters and Johnson, which happen to be the names of two groundbreaking researchers in the field of human sexuality.

Although there isn’t much in the way of four-letter words, “Hedwig” is plenty blue. Drag queen double entendres rule the day.

The show is filled with strong illusions about the supposed dichotomy and actual ambiguity of sexuality. But “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is really about love — both of others and one’s self.

The play was considered revolutionary when it debuted Off Broadway in 1998. The structure was novel and the music was genuinely rock ‘n’ roll, borrowing liberally from the glam of David Bowie, the punk of Iggy and the Stooges and the New Wave of Patti Smith and Blondie.

When Hedwig sings “Angry Inch,” an ode to the botched sex change operation, the result is darn near metal. No wonder sludge-metal rockers Type O Negative covered it.

“Even without the story, ‘Hedwig’ would be worth putting on just as a concert,” says Susan Bearden-Schaffer, co-producer and musical director for the Sugden performance. “But the story is so moving, about acceptance and self-acceptance.”

The narrative device of the concert performance adds an immediacy to the performance.

There’s no need for much in the way of props, which makes it feel more organic than, say, “Showboat.” The music is triggered by the concert itself, a style drama theorists call diegesis. Which many feel makes for a less jarring break from reality than many classic musicals.

Because of the subject matter, it’s a little surprising that “Hedwig” has played Naples before, in a 2002 performance that Bearden-Schaffer helped with. That show played at the now-defunct Black Angus Grille.

“It’s like deja vu,” she says after rehearsal. “Only this time we’re not in a steak house.”

With a proper theater, the hope is that even in a short run, Hedwig will garner interest of sophisticated theatergoers, who will grasp that it isn’t a play about sex, but about identity.

That’s why Bearden-Schaffer, who calls herself a devout Christian, has no qualms with a play that might otherwise offend her sensibilities.

“It’s certainly not a conservative show,” she says. “There is certainly some challenging parts and offensive material. I’m even still challenged.

“But, in the end, it’s about dignity and acceptance. We need to not place labels, but to love — themes that I think anyone can relate to.”