The Parry plantation in Mississippi wasn’t doing well because woman had gone from wearing cotton to silk underwear. So when Henry from New Jersey proposed marriage to Isabelle Parry, she accepted. Henry thought he had their life all planned out, until they stepped into a Manhattan speakeasy where they meet Tomaso, Mario, Judge Dempsey, Patrolman Mulligan and Count Di Ruvo. Isabelle finds them enchanting. Henry does not. Where Isabelle and Henry spend the night all has to do with the decision to play it safe or expand one’s horizons.
It’s all part of the fun in Preston Sturges’s screwball comedy, “Strictly Dishonorable.” Opening in 1929, this Broadway hit ran strong even after the market crash in October, and was the reason Sturges was wooed to Hollywood.
The cast includes Jennifer Bissell, Lino Del Core, Stephen Humes, Marty McDonough, James Rana, Thomas Raniszewski and Eric Stephenson, under the direction of Gayle Stahlhuth.
The East Lynne Theater Company presents “Strictly Dishonorable” Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. from September 23 through October 17, with the exception of no show on Wednesday, October 7, and an additional show on Sunday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. There is an opportunity to meet the cast at an after-show party on Wednesday, September 23 at Aleathea’s Restaurant at The Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean Street, at no additional cost. On Friday, October 2 there is an after-show Q&A.
Performances are at the First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes Street, Cape May, where ELTC is in residence. For information/reservations: (609) 884-5898, eastlynneco@aol.com or www.eastlynnetheater.org.