There’s ‘No Sex’ in Surf City this weekend

Tom Titus

Probably one of the more critical elements in the success of a play

lies in what the playwright chooses to call it. Beyond theme, setting,

cast or any of those other mundane considerations, the first thing a

potential audience member notices about a play is its title.

Which is why the Huntington Beach Playhouse should enjoy a pretty fair

engagement with the show it’s opening this weekend. The title, you see,

is “No Sex, Please, We’re British.”

Actually, this farcical comedy by Anthony Marriott and Allistair Foot

has been around for a few eons, but the quantity of its revivals pales in

comparison to, for instance, “Steel Magnolias” or “Joseph and the Amazing

Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which every community, college and professional

theater seems to be producing these days.

However, “No Sex, Please, etc.” seems to have more going for it than

just a provocative title. The original London production ran for eight

years.

The plot device is a simple one. A newlywed assistant bank manager and

his bride place an order for Scandinavian glassware, but instead receive

Scandinavian pictures of the sort they wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing

with his boss or her mother.

As is the custom in these British farces, one mix-up is piled atop

another until all Hades breaks loose. The same plot structure has been

used in “Love, Sex and the IRS,” “Two and Two Make Sex” and the recent

English import to Newport Beach, “Not Now, Darling.”

The Huntington Beach Playhouse production is being directed by Patrick

Fennell and features James Gruessing and Mindy Krejci as the newlyweds,

with Scott Narver as the best friend who becomes involved in the spicy

misunderstanding.

Others in the cast are Jeanne Nelson, Gordon Marhoefer, Kurt Finney,

Philip Andrews, Nathan Singh, Trish Riley and Vanessa Ray. The latter two

actresses, if memory serves, portray a couple of ladies employed in the

adult film industry.

CALLBOARD

-- The Huntington Beach Playhouse will hold auditions 1 p.m. March 3

and 7 p.m. March 4 for Robert Bolt’s drama “A Man For All Seasons,” under

the direction of David Colwell. The historical play centers on the

conflict created for Sir Thomas More, archbishop of Canterbury, when King

Henry VIII pressures him to support his divorce and remarriage, contrary

to Catholic church law.

The tryouts will be at the Library Theater, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach. “A Man for All Seasons” will be presented from April 26

through May 12 at the theater.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent. FYI

WHAT: “No Sex, Please, We’re British”

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7 p.m.

Sunday through March 10

WHERE: Central Library Theater, 7111 Talbert Ave.

TICKETS: $14 to $17, $7 for students at Thursday shows, plus $1 city

surcharge

PHONE: (714) 375-0696