BY HOLLIE WATSON

West Islanders will find comic relief from a gruelling winter with Lakeshore Players latest offering, a furious farce entitled Kindly Keep It Covered. The company’s second production of the season opens tonight at John Rennie High School theatre in Pointe Claire.

“It’s a very physical comedy, with lots of shtick,” said director and long-time troupe member Susan Freed.

“It has a bit of everything – music, mistaken identities, bathroom humour, dead bodies. It’s a lot of fun. The playwright was the main writer for the Benny Hill Show,” said Freed, who directed last year’s production of Sinners.

“We revised the play to bring in some Canadian content, moving the setting from England to British Columbia.”

The main character is Roland Dickerby (played by Lakeshore mainstay Steve Gillam, who also designed the set), an insurance agent who falls in love with and marries the widow of Sidney, a charming rogue who has ostensibly died an accidental death. With the insurance money, the couple starts a new life together and opens a spa in the mountains.

But chaos ensues “when Sidney comes back from the dead. Roland is a good guy stuck in a bad situation and is faced with a moral dilemma – should he go along with things or come clean?” Freed explained.

The production, which boasts a strong, seven-member cast, runs from Feb. 6 to 9 and 13 to 16. Recipients of two preview benefit shows are the Cheshire Foundation, held yesterday, and the West Island Palliative Care Residence and Montreal Lakeshore University Women’s Club on Feb. 12.

“We’re always looking for new people to get involved, either on stage or behind the scenes,” Freed said, adding anyone interested is welcome to turn out later this month for auditions for the final production for 2007-2008, Silver Dagger.

The theatre is located at 501 St. John’s Blvd. Curtain time is 8 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door or may be reserved by calling 514-631-8718. For details visit www.lakeshoreplayers.org.