Looking at your retirement plan’s quarterly statements these days is enough to drive you to leap off a cliff. The sunset of retirement is now further away than it was just a few months ago, and an economic storm is still on the horizon. 

But instead of jumping to your death, visit a comedy. It is much gentler on your clothing because it takes a lot of work to get blood out of a sweatshirt and jeans — from what I read on the Internet that is.

One such comedy to consider is Encore!’s take on the longest running comedy in London, Run for Your Wife, a goofy adult laugh factory written by Ray Cooney. The show was first produced in 1983 and ran for nine years across the pond. And now it is coming to the South Sound.

 

The show centers on the story of John Smith, a London cabbie with a bit of a problem. He isn’t Mormon; yet, he has two wives. One of them lives in Streatham while the other wife has a house in Wimbledon. The drive time between the two wives means a lot of scheduling and time behind the wheel. All has worked well so far. He has successfully lived this game for three years. But his luck runs out when he plays the role of good Samaritan and comes to the aid of a person being mugged. He finds himself in the hospital with a concussion. He juggles his life as best he can from his hospital bed, but the Three’s Company style antics get the best of him. He finally confesses his dual lives only to find out that no one believes him anyway.

 

Good times. 

[Encore! Theater, through Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $6-$15, 6615 38th Ave. N.W., Gig Harbor, 253.858.2282] 

The Producers

Not to be outdone, the theater’s nearby rival, Paradise Theater, is set to stage the Washington premiere of The Producers, the funny show by Mel Brooks about an intentionally bad play.

The show, best known because of the movie version and the Broadway buzz it received a few years ago, takes place in New York in 1959. Max Bialystock was once the king of Broadway and could do no wrong in the world of theater. Those days are over, and now he is finding that all of his shows close on opening night because they simply flop for odd reasons. He gets desperate to be back on top and goes about that trip in an odd way. He goes to his accountant and learns that losing money isn’t always a bad thing. 

 

The cast includes Rusty Flounders as Max Bialystock, Ryan Demerick as Leo Bloom, Jonathan Bill as Franz, Michael Carr as Roger Debris, Andy Baker as Carman Ghia, and Krista Curry as Ulla with an ensemble of local actors.

[Paradise Theater, through Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, $10-$20, 9911 Burnham Dr. N.W., Gig Harbor, 253.851.PLAY]

Also on stage

• Stardust for Christmas: Harlequin Productions is well into its holiday mode as it stages Stardust for Christmas, the latest installment of the theater’s original series of shows set in a New York nightclub during World War II.  Stardust for Christmas, the 14th in a series of musical comedies set in the Stardust Club, has big band music and a whole lot of fun.
  
  
  
  [State Theater, through Dec. 29, 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, with special added dates, $34-$38, 202 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.786.0151, www.harlequinproductions.org]
  
   


• The Slipper & the Rose: Romance is making its West Coast premiere as it retells the classic Cinderella story through music and dance. 
  
  
  
  [Tacoma Musical Playhouse, through Dec. 21, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, $18-$25, 7116 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.565.6867]
  
   


• Scrooge, The Musical: Capital Playhouse founder and organizer Jeff Kingsbury will reprise his role of Scrooge in this the theater’s holiday production of Scrooge, The Musical. Based on Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, the show will be one to remember. 
  
  
  
  [Capital Playhouse, through Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $25-$37, 612 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.943.2744]