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Cedar City • Jo Winiarski's stylish living-room set for "Boeing Boeing," which just opened at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, reveals all you need to know about the show you're going to see. With its life-size carved llamas, Plexiglas tables and bizarre tennis-ball chair, it is smart and sophisticated, but it is also slick and all surface — no danger of depth here.

And it has an inordinate number of doors, the sure sign of a farce. This production parlays those doors into nonstop comic action. As one character observes, "That's how the unseen happens. You just don't see it."

Slick also describes Bernard (Grant Goodman), the playboy who lives here. An American architect living near Orly Airport in Paris, he has ingeniously acquired three fiancées, stewardesses who fly in and out of his life at precisely calculated intervals. Gloria (Sara J. Griffin) is a brassy, opinionated American who works for TWA. Gabriella (Tracie Thomason) is a charming, emotional Italian who flies with Alitalia. And Gretchen (Nell Geisslinger) is an athletic, autocratic German with Lufthansa.

Bernard enjoys "all the advantages of married life with none of the drawbacks," he boasts to his old friend, Robert (Quinn Mattfeld), who has just arrived from Wisconsin, where "things are quieter." "I can't be without any of them. It's the perfect life," he enthuses.

"There aren't many like monsieur," opines Berthe (Maryann Towne), Bernard's sharp-tongued, long-suffering French maid, who has to fix nationally appropriate meals for all the women. "I'm losing my mind here," she complains.

On that particular morning, Gloria is just leaving, Gabriella is stopping over for lunch and Gretchen is arriving late that night. "All you need is a timetable," Bernard brags.

It's easy to see what's coming. When schedule changes and bad weather land all three women in the apartment simultaneously, Robert frantically tries to help the beleaguered Bernard manage the mayhem. "It's definitely more interesting than Wisconsin," observes the delighted Robert.

The secret to successful farce is seemingly chaotic, but perfectly timed, execution by an inventive, quick-witted cast and a director who can keep them consistently on the same page. "Boeing Boeing" is too long and sometimes thinks it is funnier than it is, but director Christopher Liam Moore and the actors move it along at such a frantic pace that you probably won't notice.

Goodman's jaunty self-confidence dissolves into hysterical bewilderment, the three stewardesses add individualizing quirks to their national stereotypes, Mattfeld shamelessly exploits every prop for comic effect, and Towne melodramatically makes the most of each meltdown. The ensemble is so flexible that a couple of opening-night flubs simply got incorporated into the fun.

Rachel Laritz contributes sassy, color-coordinated costumes — each woman has a signature shade right down to her underwear and nightclothes — and Todd Ross' lighting is bright and upbeat. Vocal coach Adrianne Moore makes sure that each accent is distinct and intelligible.

Some people jokingly pronounce the show's title as "Boing Boing." The material may be silly and somewhat dated, but the jokes keep ricocheting off one another to create multiple layers of laughter. —

'Boeing Boeing'

"Boeing Boeing" is a bit long, but its energetic ensemble cast plays the moments so well that you'll be laughing too much to notice.

When • Reviewed Sept. 19; plays in rotating repertory with two other productions Tuesdays through Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. through Oct. 18.

Where • Randall Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, 300 West and Center Street, Cedar City

Running time • Two hours and 40 minutes (including an intermission)

Tickets • $32 to $73 with discounts for groups, students and seniors; 800-PLAYTIX (752-9849) or http://www.bard.org.