NO SEX PLEASE, WE'RE BRITISH Opens at Contra Costa Civic Theatre Tonight, 11/9

The play that had London theatre-goers in stitches for more than 15 years, No Sex Please, We're British, opens at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre tonight, November 9. Director Dennis Markam and local actors will present this fast-paced comedy with precision and flair.

In this hilarious farce, newlywed Frances Hunter sends off a mail order for Scandinavian glassware. What comes back is not glassware, but Scandinavian smut! Strait-laced husband Paul is the manager of the bank below their apartment. The two, along with the bank's frantic chief cashier, must decide what to do with the flood of pornography, books, films, and more that threaten to overwhelm the happy couple. The situation is further complicated by involvement from Peter's mother, a bank inspector, the police superintendent, and others.

Dennis Markam, who says that directing CCCT's production of Barefoot in the Park last season was one of his proudest community theatre achievements, points out that a farce is a whole lot of fun for everyone — the audience, the actors, and the director as well. Staging a farce is not easy, however. “In a farce, there are so many moving parts that everything has to have a set rhythm,” director Markam explains.

Come see No Sex Please, We're British for a great evening of timeless comedy. No Sex Please mines the humor from England's long-standing tradition of “the comedy of manners,” a sub-genre of theatre with such notable members as William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

No Sex Please, We're British runs tonight, November 9 through December 2; Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sunday matinees on November 18th, 25th, and December 2nd at 2pm. Tickets are $20, $11 for ages 16 and under and may be purchased online at www.ccct.org or by phone at 510-524-9132. Contra Costa Civic Theatre is located at 951 Pomona Avenue (at Moeser Lane) in El Cerrito, with free parking in the adjoining lot. Group rate is available for parties of ten or larger.

Photo Credit: Ben Krantz