It seems only fitting that Lakewood Playhouse is staging How the Other Half Lives around Valentine’s Day — and I’m sure the theater planned it at a time that I’m marking my 10th year with my wife. All things revolve around me don’t they?



Anyway, the theater is putting on the fairly funny and, dare I say, zany work by English playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It might be worth the good ole once-over. 



The farce starts strong and gets into the kooky realm as it tells the story of three couples, a hidden affair and a series of increasingly crazy antics required to cover up the above mentioned tryst. It sort of has the spin and flavor of a Three’s Company episode.



Ayckbourn uses creative scripting and wordplay to warp time and space as the play presents the lives of the three couples as they live out their lives in different places during different times — all in one stream of narrative. The result is sidesplitting humor as words from one conversation feed into another and then the hot potato is thrown to yet another conversation.



The well-rounded cast includes: Scott Peterson, Justin Carleton, Laurie Sifford, Adrienne Grieco, Nathan Rice, and Cara Roper.



Tying into the whole theme of the passage of time, the Lakewood Playhouse gallery in the lobby features the scenic design work of Doug Kerr, an artist who ran the Pierce College theatre department for three decades. The retrospective depicts design work from 1971 to the present production.

Twain time again

No matter how many versions of the one-man show An Evening with Mark Twain theatergoers see, it never seems to get old.



This hilarious show is a reenactment of a lecture that the world-famous author would have given during his world tour in 1905.



In his trademark white Panama suit and cigar, Twain takes audiences through a verbal voyage of comedy, dark humor and social satire that spares targets no safe harbor.



The title role is played by Michael Mauldin, who has performed the role during five national tours that spanned 40 of the 50 states. Mauldin’s performance as Twain also has aired on PBS, NPR, and was adapted into a one-hour ABC special titled Mark Twain: Sketches from Life.



It is a show that draws audiences back into a bygone time — when the world was different but people were largely the same as they are now. While the social references are true to the time 100 years ago, the social commentary Twain weaves during his monologue make the commentary about the social condition of America as timeless as William Shakespeare’s insights into the human heart. Twain might as well be commenting about the events torn from today’s headlines since the core issues are largely the same.



[Lakewood Playhouse, “How the Other Half Lives,” through March 2, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $14-$20, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd., Lakewood Towne Center, 253.588.0042]



[Centerstage Theatre, “An Evening with Mark Twain,” Saturday, Feb. 16,  2:30 and 7:30 p.m., $25, 1626 S. 341st Pl., Federal Way, 253.661.1444, www.centerstagetheatre.com]