The Redlands Footlighters Theatre and director Cynthia Lake announce The Underpants, a wacky and bawdy farce, is set to slip onto stage Thursday July 5 at 8:00pm. This raucous comedy continues through Sunday, July 22, 2007.

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In The Underpants, actor-writer Steve Martin has cheerily adapted a 1910 social send-up of bourgeois snobbery and conformity by German playwright Carl Sternheim into a hilarious, over-the-top farce centered on an unruly pair of bloomers. This adaptation is full of pure Steve Martin touches which sharpen the satiric edge and timeliness of Sternheim’s deliciously demented plot. In a fashion that might only be possible by that “wild and crazy guy”, The Underpants fortifies its scenes from a marriage of commentary on the working class, gender roles, the power of fame, and anti-Semitism!

The plot surrounds hapless victim Louise Maske (Buffy Guzenski,) a young housewife in turn-of-the-century Germany, whose frilly pantaloons inexplicably fall to her ankles while watching the King’s procession. Louise is quick to scoop them up under her shawl, but this accidental flourish sets into motion a zany chain of events. Foppish poet Franklin Versati (Phillip Gabriel) and nebbish barber Benjamin Cohen (LeRoy Wood), both entranced by their brief glimpse, vie for Louise’s affections. But her new-found fame also serves to terrify her blowhard husband Theo (Mel Chadwick), thrill her nosy neighbor Gertrude (Ginny Harman) and unleash a parade of bizarre suitors (Chuck Abernathy and Kyle Anders included.) Their ardent fervor leads Louise to realize how desperately bored she has been with her loveless, by-the-numbers home life.

The Underpants will linger for a three week run playing one Thursday evening, July 5; three Friday nights, July 6, 13 and 20; three Saturdays, July 7, 14 and 21 all at 8:00pm; and three Sunday afternoons, July 8, 15 and 22, at 2:00pm. Ticket prices are $14 for general admission and $10 for students with valid ID. Group rates are available. The Footlighters Theatre is located at 1810 Barton Road in Redlands next to the Asistencia Mission. For ticket information, or to make reservations, please call the Footlighters Box Office at 909-793-2909. For other general information, you may visit the Footlighters website at www.redlandsfootlighters.org.