Moving further away from its original mission of producing edgy, offbeat theatrical fare, Boca Stage — now in residence at the Delray Beach Playhouse — serves up a popular commercial sex farce from the 1960s, Boeing, Boeing.
If that title sounds familiar, perhaps you recall a 1965 movie version that starred Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis, or a 2008 Broadway revival in which Mark Rylance conducted a master class in comic performance, winning a Tony Award for his droll effort.
In any event, the play — written by France’s Marc Camoletti and translated into English by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans — revolves around an American expat named Bernard, living in an upscale apartment near Paris’s Orly airport.
Its proximity to Orly is crucial, for he is in relationships with a trio of air hostesses — Gloria of TWA, Gabriella of Alitalia and Gretchen of Lufthansa. Each is oblivious of the other two stews, for each believes she is engaged to marry Bernard, who is having way too much fun for wedlock.
With the skill of an efficiency expert, he manages to juggle their flight schedules so they can spend their layovers with him, just missing the arrivals and departures of the others.
Until, of course, Bernard’s scheme goes awry.
For as in most farces, the meticulous machinery grinds to a halt and the three women all show up on the same day. Then Bernard, and his visiting old school chum Robert, have to keep hiding the dames from each other. Cue the seven slammable doors on Cindi Blank Taylor’s chic set.
The plotting is clever, the dialogue has some nice zingers, but the majority of the humor stems from the mayhem of the physical action. Director Keith Garsson times the entrances and exits of the flight attendants expertly, though much of the other slapstick business could be tighter.
As Robert, Kevin Cruz does most of the production’s heavy lifting, dashing about the stage, trying to impose some sanity on the proceedings which proves a losing, but risible, battle. Sandi Stock (Gloria), Zoe Darragh Garnett (Gabriella) and JB Wing (Gretchen) are all quite fetching in Alberto Arroyo’s color-coordinated fly-gal uniforms and occasional lingerie. Their projected national stereotypes are amusing, though their accents come and go throughout the evening.
With dead-on, deadpan delivery, Angie Radosh gets more than her share of the laughs as Berthe, the grumpy maid to Bernard (Noah Levine), who gets relegated offstage for much of the play.
Boeing, Boeing is a relic of an earlier time, but surprisingly innocent as sex farces go. The Boca Stage production could be sharper, yet it does deliver its share of giggles.
BOEING, BOEING, Boca Stage at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St., Delray Beach. Through Saturday. $39-$49. 561-272-1281.