If there is anything more beloved in the annals of farce than the slamming door, it’s the “character dressed up as someone he/she is not, resulting in boundless confusion.” If it was good enough for Shakespeare, it should be good enough for anybody.

Brandon Thomas’ 1892 play Charley’s Aunt—being produced locally by Pinnacle Acting Company—finds the perfect touch of Victorian repression to flavor its farcical premise. Oxford students Charley and Jack are interested in entertaining a pair of young lady friends, but can’t possibly do so unchaperoned. The impending arrival of Charley’s aunt, whom he has never met, seems to provide the ideal chaperone—except that she finds herself detained, leading the boys to the desperate measure of disguising a male friend as the widowed “aunt.” Problem solved! Except when your “female” chaperone is hitting on your dates, things can get complicated. And when the real Charley’s aunt arrives, they could get more complicated still. (Scott Renshaw)

Charley’s Aunt @ Midvale Performing Arts Center, 695 W. 7720 South, Thurs-Sat, June 11–27. PinnacleActingCompany.org