NORTHUMBERLAND — Local theatergoers ready for some big laughs will find what they are looking for in “Run For Your Wife” by Ray Cooney August 2-18 at The Westmoreland Players Theatre, 16217 Richmond Road, Callao. This British bedroom farce was one of the longest running plays in London’s West End, playing there for over nine years.
Set in London in the 1980s, “Run For Your Wife” tells the story of John Smith, a nondescript cab driver who, because of his agreeable nature, has acquired two wives who are each blissfully unaware of the other’s existence, reported producer Dan Beckhard. When John is injured in a mugging incident and both wives report him missing to the police, he improvises a cascade of lies in the effort to avoid confrontation and manage this situation. With the help of his lazy neighbor Stanley Gardner, John manages to confuse and infuriate both of his wives as well as the two detectives responding to the missing persons reports.
About the play
As in any good bedroom farce, “Run for Your Wife” is filled with puns, double entendres, mistaken identities, characters in various states of undress and multiple slamming doors. Audiences may be challenged to keep track of which characters believe which of John’s fabrications, but the ensuing confusion will make them laugh until they cry, said Beckhard.
Matt Johnson portrays John Smith with a comedic flair that Northern Neck audiences have come to expect. Benja Gladden-Slaughter makes her debut as Mary, wife number one, and Katie Lucy portrays Barbara, wife number two. Christopher Brown plays Stanley while Michael Snider and Greg Hewitt depict the somewhat clueless detectives. Beckhard and CJ Minor round out the cast as Bobby Franklyn and the Reporter.
The set, designed by Janice Wooley, is creatively designed to remind the audience that there are two different apartments in London, while enabling the cast to use the entire stage no matter which apartment is the setting for the scene. “Run For Your Wife” is directed by Joanne Cox.
Tickets
Tickets for the opening night gala on August 2 at $40 each and include food at 6:30 p.m. followed by the show at 7:30 p.m. Student gala tickets are $27.
The play will continue at 7:30 p.m. August 3, 9, 10, 16, and 3 p.m. August 4, 11, 17 and 18.
Tickets for the remaining shows are $30 for adults and $17 for students.
