‘STAND BY YOUR BEDS, BOYS’

“Stand By Your Beds, Boys,” a farce at the Richmond Shepard Theatre, builds considerable momentum in the first act but sags in the second. The third act restores some of the energy, but the play never completely recovers.

The narrative hinges on three concealments. A pro football player tries to hide his gay relationship with a British teacher from his mother, while the teacher seeks to persuade a weaselly immigration official that he’s marrying an American. Meanwhile, a ditzy blonde pretends she’s married to the jock in order to keep her obnoxiously precocious black son from the clutches of a prying welfare worker.

Perhaps some of this seemed fresher in 1974, when the play was a hit at the Callboard. Now, despite a slew of highbrow literary references, “Stand by Your Beds” is mindless more than funny. Writers Ray Scantlin and the late John Allison stretched the seams beyond repair in that second act.

Nevertheless, Timothy Glasby’s direction cannot be faulted. Casts will alternate, beginning in several weeks, but the players I saw whipped through their paces without noticing that the play’s machinery had rusted here and there. Though they all play ninnies, they displayed a remarkable variety of styles, from surprisingly natural (Pat Crawford Brown, Danny Koch) to pugnaciously artificial (Donna Forman, Elaine Beer, Anthony Russell) to somewhere in between (Ken Gildin, Ben Hoag).

Performances are at 6468 Santa Monica Blvd., Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m., indefinitely; (213) 462-9399.