A silly, feel-good British farce

Every so often, a demographer predicts that Smith will soon be replaced as the most common surname in the United States.

So far, the moniker still outnumbers all the others in this country and in the United Kingdom. As long as that's true, writers probably will continue to poke fun at Smiths far and wide.

One of them is Ray Cooney, creator of "Run For Your Wife," the silly British farce now playing at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. Cooney's protagonist is John Smith, a London cabbie with more libido than sense.

Smith gets himself into a fine mess, by taking on more than one missus, and by keeping them in flats just a short distance apart. One day in 1985, the bigamist bumps his head, while trying to stop a purse snatching. As a result, he inadvertently gives one address to a constable, and another to a hospital. Suspicious detectives investigate in Wimbledon, where Smith lives with his wife, Mary, and in Streatham, where he resides with his bride, Barbara.

When confronted by authorities, the two-timing cabbie tries to cover his tracks, by concocting a pack of lies so elaborate that he sets in motion a comedy of errors of Shakespearean proportions.

Beef & Boards' delightful production directed by J. R. Stuart is full of good humor -- the old-fashioned, larger-than-life slapstick kind that was the heart of television variety shows starring Benny Hill, Carol Burnett and others.

As Smith, B&B veteran Eddie Curry offers good comic timing, self-deprecating humor and an amusing way of braying when he's upset.

As the wives, Sarah Hund plays Mary and Jill Kelly plays Barbara with a similar approach. Both seem oblivious at first, the main difference being that Hund adopts more of a polite demeanor, with Kelly coming across as a coquette.

Stanley, the Smiths' unemployed upstairs neighbor in Wimbledon, is wonderfully played by Jeff Stockberger, who looks something like Tom Poston, the old television actor. Sean Blake plays Bobby Franklyn, the upstairs neighbor in Streatham, with relentless flamboyance. Michael Haws and Adam O. Crowe round out the cast as stuffy detectives.

"Run for Your Wife" has launched B&B's 35th season. The season also will include "West Side Story," running Feb..7-March 22; "Show Boat, March 27-May 11; "Peter Pan," May 15-June 29; "Smoke on the Mountain: Homecoming," July.5-Aug. 3; "The Producers," Aug. 7-Sept. 28; "The Sound of Music," Oct. 2-Nov. 23 and "A Beef & Boards Christmas," Nov..28-Dec. 31.