Boeing Boeing

Boeing Boeing is coming to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre on Thursday 23 July, with performances running through to Saturday 25 July. It's a 1960s French farce, brought to the stage in English, and it's exactly the kind of thing that works best live: a high-energy comedy built on a single, ridiculous premise that slowly falls apart.

At the centre of it all is Bernard, a self-styled Parisian lothario who's managed to keep three different fiancées on the go at once. Each of them is a flight attendant for a different airline — one Italian, one German, one American — and because their flights are on different schedules, he's been able to keep them all in separate boxes. He describes his system as 'one up, one down, and one on standby', a carefully timed rotation that lets him play the devoted partner to three women without any of them knowing about the others.

Of course, a farce only works when the plan goes wrong, and that's where the fun is. A sudden shift in flight schedules brings all three women to his Paris apartment at the same time, and the rest of the play is Bernard scrambling to keep them from crossing paths. It's a classic setup — the frantic energy, the narrow misses, and the mounting panic as the lies pile up — and it's the sort of thing that's built for a theatre crowd to laugh along with.

It's an evening for adults who enjoy their comedy fast and a bit farcical, rather than something for the kids. All three nights start at 19:30, and tickets start from £15, with a few different price points to choose from. The theatre is at Haxby Road, YO31 8TA, and if you've got questions, you can reach the box office on 01904 501935 or at boxoffice@jrtheatre.co.uk.