Ellington

New Stage has outdone itself with "Don't Dress for Dinner." If the play were a stand-up comic, I'd say she starts off just a bit slow, but quickly grabs tightly onto your funny bone and gives it a delightful workout.

The play is filled with so much deception and mistaken identity that you might think you're supposed to be watching a mystery. The only mystery here is how these actors and actresses were able to make their way through rehearsals without breaking each other up, writhing on the floor in laughter, even.

Deception rears its hilarious head right from the beginning and has no respect for characters or relationships—husband deceives wife, lover deceives lover, cook deceives everyone.

I wondered how the audience would react to this naughty farce, replete with extra-marital dalliances and innuendos, convoluted explanations and situations, as well as cocktails, short skirts, and skimpy tops? I'm thrilled to report that Jacksonians of all ages were willing to suspend their belief that such goings-on shouldn't really be funny. They were caught up in the hilarious lines expertly delivered and timed and the slapstick humor involving numerous, yet unseen, insects and spilled liquids. I even heard one woman say as the lights came up for intermission, "What's been going on? My husband's had his hands over my eyes the whole time," then laugh uproariously. Even though there are more twists than in all the martini bars in Manhattan, this cast graduated cum laude from bartender school. The fast pace might leave you a little giddy from laughing so much, but you'll not mind in the least.

And don't forget, laughter is said to be good for the digestion, so stop by after dinner, through the Oct. 31 afternoon matinee, for a big dose of hilarity—courtesy of the fine cast and crew of "Don't Dress for Dinner."