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by Krista Threadgill

Sometimes, too much love can make you crazy.  Curtain Players’ production of Ray Cooney’s Run For Your Wife is a testament to that.  Mistaken identities, flamboyant neighbors, nonexistent troubled children, and a couple of very confused police detectives make an appearance in this production.

We meet London taxi driver John Smith (Nick Lingnofski) as he’s being escorted home by Detective Sergeant Troughton (Charlisa Anderson) after he was injured while trying to break up a mugging.  John’s wife, Mary (Ashley Greene) has been beside herself all night after John had failed to come home after his shift ended at midnight.  John is beside himself as well—he’s come home to the wrong house.  For a few miles away, his other wife, Barbara (Laura Miller), is also waiting for John to come home.  In her distress, she enlists the help of Detective Sergeant Porterhouse (Jeb Bigelow).  John confesses his duplicity to his friend Stanley Gardner (Ben Hackney), and Stan agrees to help perpetuate the ruse.  Meanwhile, a new neighbor named Bobby Franklyn (Dale Bush) and a newspaper reporter (Jeff Kemeter) add new layers of chaos to the mix.

Tim Browning directs a talented cast through their farcical paces in this high-action play.  All of the actors impress with their ability to stay in character and on track with their English accents.  Lingnofski is believably overwhelmed as he races from one apartment—and wife—to another.  Hackney brings the laughs home with spot-on timing.  Greene and Miller play the outraged dual spouses very well and bring out the characters’ differences as well as similarities.  Anderson’s straight-edge Troughton and Bigelow’s family-centric Bigelow are delightful to watch.  Bush’s performance as the gay neighbor to Barbara feels a trifle forced at times, but still brings laughs.

The production also boasts some excellent technical work.  Mark Rasche designed a great set that blends two apartments much as John has blended two lives.  Linda Browning’s costume designs are simple but effective.  J.B. Jasiunas helmed the lighting design, though there didn’t appear to be much in the way of dramatic lighting changes through the course of the production.

Curtain Players has a great thing going for the next few weeks in Run For Your Wife.  Treat yourself to a fun little comedy from across the pond without leaving central Ohio.  Don’t miss it!

Curtain Players presents Ray Cooney’s Run For Your Wife October 30-31 and November 6-7 at 8:00 p.m. and November 1 and 8 at 2:00 p.m. at 5691 Harlem Road, Galena, Ohio.  Tickets are $12-14 and can be purchased online at www.curtainplayers.com or by phone at 614-360-1000.

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Krista Threadgill spent her childhood following her parents around the Actors Guild of Parkersburg. After that, she wiled away her summers at Jenny Wiley Amphitheater, and she has performed in two Neil Simon plays. She has an English degree from the Ohio State University.