DICK KEREKES dickkerekes@yahoo.com

      You say you weren’t invited to a wedding this past June, the most popular month for couples to tie the knot? Well, I don’t want you to feel left out so I am inviting you to go to Limelight Theatre’s season ending play Perfect Wedding. The celebration will be on the stage in the Joukowsky Family Foundation Center for the Performing Arts until August l7th in uptown St. Augustine at 11 Old Mission Ave. Call 825-1164 for reservations or visit their website at www.limelight-theatre.org.

      This farce was written by British actor/playwright Robin Hawdon, whose work is known locally. His Don’t Dress For Dinner, also a typical bedroom farce, made the rounds here a few years ago. I have good news; Perfect Wedding has been Americanized so the actors did not have to struggle with accents or strange English words.

      Bill (Zephion Michaels) wakes up on the morning of his wedding to find himself in bed with Judy (Samantha Lemke), who unknown to Bill, is the new girl friend of his best man Tom (Eric Streichert). Not knowing who the mystery woman was, Tom helps Bill concoct a story to cover Bill’s misbehavior from his intended Rachel (Jayme Ratzer) and her mother (Heather Corry). Unfortunately Tom thinks that Julie, the chambermaid (Kate Messenger) is the girl Bill woke up with and she gets dragged into this escalating madness? Sound confusing. Believe me it is easier to see than to explain.

      All the performers except for Mrs. Corry are making their Limelight debuts and I don’t think it could have been cast any better. Mrs. Corry is a Limelight veteran who lately has been raising a family. Since her husband, Britt Corry, a Flagler College drama professor directed this play, she is making her comeback and is delightfully ditsy as the mother.

      Like most British sex farces, there is a lot of opening and closing of doors and a lot of talk about sex but no real hanky panky going on. Farce requires intelligent actors with lots of healthy brain cells to remember all those split second entrances and exits and the lines that must be delivered with precision. These superb and talented young actors did this in a grand style and did quite a bit of mugging and physical humor to enhance the fun even more.

     Director Corry designed the set of the delightful two room resort hotel wedding suite that even has a revolving couch!!! My, my use your imagination on that!!!

     Perfect Wedding is the perfect way to have a lot of laughs and forget the rest of the world for two hours while you are terrifically entertained by physical shtick and comic panache with a play that actually has a happy ending.

      In the very comfortable Limelight reception area, you will see a display of wedding photos of friends of the theatre and some of the staff. They are a lot of fun to see. You might pull out your wedding photos, to prime yourself for your Limelight visit.

      Show times are Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 with selected matinees at 2 PM, and Sunday matinees at 2 PM.

     There is plenty of free parking available and every seat in the Matuza Main Stage Theatre is a good one. Don’t miss the wedding