"The Underpants" Opening at the Beck Center

Question: What do you get when a snobby bureaucrat's fall down in down public?

Answer: Laughs. And lots of 'em.

The is presenting comedian Steve Martin’s adaption of The Underpants — a hilarious send-up of middle-class snobbery and conformity based on a controversial early 20th-century German expressionist satire by Carl Sternheim.

The Underpants is billed as an uproarious romp about a puritanical bureaucrat and his pretty, young wife who creates quite the scandal when her bloomers accidentally fall down in public.

New York City-based director Matthew Earnest recruited a local cast and crew for the performance set to run April 1 through April 23.

Earnest said the show — a “wild, door-slamming high-jinks satire” — is right up Lakewood’s alley.

 “I love Lakewood, I love coming to Cleveland,” he said. “I think people here will have a fabulous time. They will howl with laughter, then they’ll leave and tell all their friends that it’s a very fun night.”

Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. The April 9 performance is sold out for The Centennial Gala sponsored by Lakewood Chamber of Commerce. 

There’s a reward for buying tickets early. Those buy an adult ticket by Thursday can save $5, using the promo code “ARTSPANTS.” Tickets can be purchased online or at the box office.

“It’s a very wild and free feeling very theatrical comedy,” Earnest said.

This is his second production at the Beck Center. Last year, Earnest directed “Is He Dead?” — a performance adapted from a previously unproduced play by Mark Twain. 

“I have found Lakewood really cozy,” said Earnest, who is staying across the street from the Beck Center, “Audiences here really embrace my work, and I am confident they will embrace this very funny piece as well.”