People want to take a breather at the end of a week and don’t want to be saddled with a heavy dose of reality, said veteran Players member Geoff Ford.

With that in mind, the group’s latest performance is designed to allow the audience to escape their everyday pressures and to incite uproarious laughter.

Starting next Friday and continuing Saturday, Oct. 18, Thursday, Oct. 23, Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25, the Milton Players will perform Ray Cooney’s ‘Out of Order’ at the Milton Seniors’ Activity Centre, 500 Childs Dr.

It’ll be directed by Ford, who has either acted or directed in five of the six Cooney plays the Milton Players have performed over the years.

“He (Cooney) does good stuff. It’s fluff — British farce at its best. There’s a lot of comings and goings and mayhem,” Ford said, adding there’s usually some sort of twist at the end.

Out of Order revolves around Richard Willey, a junior minister in the government who plans to spend the night with Jane Worthington, one of the opposition’s typists. Both of them are married, and end up having a truly disastrous evening that includes a supposedly dead body that keeps coming back to life.

“It’s quite chaotic,” Ford said.

The cast includes a mix of seasoned and new actors and includes Tim Beddoes as Richard and Tracey Mottram as Jane Worthington. Also on stage are Andrew Saunders, Doug Goodhue, Geoff Taylor, Eleanor Gribbon, Scott Freer-Imus, Ben McFarlane, Susan Cranford and Sharon Beddoes.

The Players aren’t the only ones who have no problem giving the audience what it wants, even if that means there isn’t a huge range of theatrical skills displayed.

Cooney himself is a fan of formula, Ford said, explaining the playwright has discovered what works and has stuck to that.

That usually means there’s a central character who gets himself into some sort of mess, with a smarter sidekick who tries to untangle the mess, Ford said.

Even certain lines seem to travel from one play to the next.

Ford said he likes the “physicality” of this play. In one scene there’s a dead body (played by a perfectly live Milton Player) hanging from a door that swings open, while in others a window plays an important role, falling shut at just the right times.

Of course, Ford said, the trick is to keep the window from falling when it’s not supposed to — such as on a Milton Player.

“We have a limited number of actors,” he joked.

Particularly in light of the group’s recent financial troubles, Ford is hoping some of Milton’s newer residents will decide to take in a performance as well as the theatre group’s ever-loyal fans.

“Once you come and see us, we’ll hook you and you’ll come back,” he said.

With a lack of revenue, the Players have had to let go of their rehearsal/storage space in an effort to cut costs. Their next step is to seek help from local businesses.

“We’re desperately trying to get corporate sponsorship so we have some financial stability,” Ford said. “We’re still struggling.”

Show-only performances will take place next Friday, Thursday, Oct. 23 and Friday, Oct. 24. Doors will open at 7:30 p. m., with the performances starting at 8 p. m. Tickets cost $20 each.

Dinner theatre performances will take place Saturday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 25. The bar will open at 6:30 p. m., dinner will be served at 7 p. m. and the show will start at 8:15 p. m. Tickets cost $40 each in advance or $45 each at the door.

For tickets, call (905) 875-0629, visit www.miltonplayers.com or e-mail info@miltonplayers.com .

Stephanie Hounsell can be reached at sthiessen@miltoncanadianchampion.com .