Geva continues the love and marriage theme of its 2011-2012 season with "Perfect Wedding," a light, frothy farce that's a welcome respite from the gloomy weather outside. Farce is a very specific genre, and it's not everybody's cup of tea. Geva last attempted a full-on farce with the period piece "The Ladies Man" in 2009, a problematic play with a fantastic conclusion but a frustrating wind up. "Perfect Wedding" is more appealing overall. But while its first act builds to a hilarious apex, the second act falls just a bit short of achieving those pre-intermission heights.

The show opens with Bill (Cary Donaldson) waking up in bed next to Judy (Kate Middleton - not that Kate Middleton). A couple of problems with this. One, Bill is terribly hung over and has no idea who Judy is (although she certainly seems to know him). Two, he's due to get married in a few hours to a completely different woman. Three, the hotel room in which they woke up is actually Bill's honeymoon suite, and his fianc�e, Rachel (Teri Watts), is due to arrive any moment to start getting ready for the ceremony.

Bill quickly ropes his best man Tom (Tom Coiner) into helping him cover up his indiscretion. In short order, things spin wildly out of control as lies beget lies and multiple identities are mistaken, and the only person who can see through the craziness is a delightfully spazzy chambermaid (Kristen Mengelkoch).

The script by Robin Hawdon is somewhat light on laugh-out-loud lines - most of them go to Julie the chambermaid or the dryly sarcastic Tom - but heavy on charm. The truth is that none of the four main characters should be likable. Bill is a spineless, cheating liar. Judy knowingly slept with a man the night before his wedding. Rachel is humorless and borderline abrasive. Tom reveals himself to be a would-be homicidal maniac. And yet, thanks to deft direction by Bruce Jordan and some game performances, you forgive the characters for most of their faults.

It's high praise to say that Cary Donaldson makes Bill - who lies constantly, knowingly at the expense of everyone else around him - even remotely palatable as a leading man. Even after all the selfish, shitty things his character does, an innate sweetness shines through, especially in his later scenes with Middleton's Judy. Love at first sight is always a tough sell in modern stories, but the two of them are surprisingly believable. Although arguably it's Middleton doing the heavy lifting in those exchanges. Her character has to lay her heart out on the table, and essentially justify their ethically dubious behavior. She does a great job.

Coiner is terrific throughout as Tom, initially sarcastic and slightly smug, and progressively wilder as the play goes on. (His increasingly mussed hair serves as an effective barometer of his madness.) Watts has the least to work with as Rachel, who spends most of the play asking question after question. Brigitt Markusfeld appears as the mother of the bride, whose main function is to howl about the state of their "perfect wedding" as everything goes down the toilet.

The real star of the show, however, is Kristen Mengelkoch as the kooky chambermaid Julie. Mengelkoch is consistently hilarious throughout the show, perfectly suited for the over-the-top nature of farce. From her bizarre play-acting bits to her de facto role as the appalled moral center of the show, she excels at everything given to her. Special commendations also go to the toilet brush, the unsung supporting member of the cast.

The play is set in Britain, which means accents, which had a tendency to waver a bit on opening night. The show is apparently set in modern day, but the dated-looking set design by Bill Clarke and the opening music cue had me convinced that the show was set in the late 80's.

The first act is unquestionably stronger than the second. It continues to build and build, including a particular reveal about halfway through that had the majority of the opening-night audience gasping in surprise (a sure sign that the play is doing something right). Act II resolves nicely - albeit predictably - but suffers from one of farce's inherent stumbling blocks: the Get On With It Syndrome. Even after he's been totally busted, Bill continues spinning lies, climaxing with a spectacular rapid-fire monologue by Donaldson in which he delivers yet another obviously phony story to the characters on stage.

It's a great theatrical moment, but narratively it had me rolling my eyes, exhausted by the never-ending Three Card Monte of truth. It was just one iteration of the story too many. But given that the audience on the whole burst into applause as the actor gasped for breath at the conclusion, I'll happily concede that I might be wrong on that particular point.

"Perfect Wedding"

Through February 12

Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Blvd.

Tickets start at $25 | 232-4382, gevatheatre.org