Island Players stage Marc Camoletti’s ‘Happy Birthday’
A couple of years ago, Island Players in Anna Maria staged the classic 1960s French farce “Boeing-Boeing.” Audiences loved it, so this year the company is opening its season with “Happy Birthday,” a sequel to “Boeing-Boeing.”
Like the earlier play, “Happy Birthday,” also written by Marc Camoletti, revolves around a Parisian man named Bernard who is trying to keep the women in his life secret from each other.
In “Boeing-Boeing,” they’re international flight attendants who visit on a rotating basis. In “Happy Birthday,” Bernard is married. He’s having an affair and invites his mistress to his birthday party. He asks his best friend Robert to be there and pretend to be the boyfriend of the mistress, but Robert is (unbeknownst to Bernard, of course), having an affair with Bernard’s wife.
The situation gets even more convoluted after that.
Travis Rogers and Jennifer Eddy played Bernard and Jacqueline in “Boeing-Boeing,” and they’re back again in the same roles for “Happy Birthday.” The cast also includes James Thaggard, Sue Belvo and Jennifer Caldwell. Mike Lusk directs.
The production was supposed to open Thursday, but because of Hurricane Irma, Island Players opted to delay the opening until Saturday. It runs through Oct. 1.
Details: Sept. 23-Oct. 1, Island Players, 10009 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 2 p.m. Sunday. $20. Information: 941-778-5755, theislandplayers.org.
Marty Clear: 941-708-7919, @martinclear.
This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Island Players stage Marc Camoletti’s ‘Happy Birthday’."