Another dull and dreary rainy Vancouver day this past weekend provided a perfect opportunity to sit down in the warm and have a good belly laugh.  The outing? She Stoops to Conquer now playing at The Stanley Theatre.

Oliver Goldsmith’s bawdy comedy was first performed in London in 1773 and could  be compared to a modern day sitcom except live at the theatre it’s much more accessible than anything we watch in our living rooms.

The combination of high energy, quick stage changes, amazingly complicated costumes, and some entertaining music tells the tale of the modest Charles Marlow and his travelling companion as they pursue their respective love lives. Charles mistakes his future wife for a barmaid, and her parents as innkeepers, and gets himself tied into a few knots over the whole affair.

Actor Christine Quintana rescued this week’s performance with her last minute stand-in as the lead,  but reading from a script made it hard for her to be spontaneous with those little nuances that make a character thoroughly believable. Still an amazing task to pull off at a moment’s notice.

The play runs until November 18th. Don’t miss it. It’s good to have something to laugh about.

-Suzanne Anderton