Ah, the farce. Whether you love this fast-paced comedy art form, or love to hate it, it’s here to stay, with a long history of misunderstandings, fibs, innuendos and increasingly outrageous behavior. Case in point: Florida Studio Theatre’s current production of Don’t Dress for Dinner, originally written by Marc Camoletti (also responsible for the hit Boeing, Boeing) and adapted into English by Robin Hawdon.

The piece begins as many of its type do. Someone (Bernard, played by Gil Brady) has plans for a naughty weekend with his mistress, Suzanne (Lily Kren), while his wife, Jacqueline (Katharine McLeod), is away visiting her mother. When old friend Robert (Jack Berenholtz) shows up, Bernard figures he can provide good cover. But then he doesn’t know that Jacqueline and Robert are having their own little fling. When Jacqueline decides to stick around for some amorous intrigues, the lies begin to stack up as quickly as the drinks are poured from the well-stocked liquor cabinet.

And pretty soon, each time the doorbell rings it’s the signal to change partners and dance, as an innocent but clever caterer, Suzette (Ellen Grace Diehl), is pressed into service to take on a variety of identities to keep the situation escalating. Did we mention that she has a jealous husband named George?

You don’t really have to believe any of this to enjoy the show, which is well executed by a cast that never seems to flounder in delivering some very convoluted dialogue. Naturally, there’s lots of physical humor, too, staged by director Nancy Rominger and fight choreographer Brianna McVaugh. Plus there’s an added fillip of costume changes (especially some slinky attire for the ladies by Kathleen Geldard) to keep you interested, including one that takes place right before our eyes as Suzette goes from waitstaff to dinner guest in a flash.

It's maybe just a bit odd that while the action takes place in a converted French farmhouse (a pretty impressive set design by Isabel A. and Moriah Curley-Clay), and Paris is frequently mentioned, the accents here are all British. (Ex-pats, maybe?) It probably helps that the play is firmly set in the swinging 1960s, with the soundtrack by Nicholas Christensen and that prominently placed and used rotary phone keeping us in that period. (If everyone involved in these shenanigans had cell phones, the whole thing would be radically altered.)

So, if you’re in the mood for some fooling around, but don’t have the courage (or the stamina) for pulling it off yourself, let the cast of Don’t Dress for Dinner do it for you. The production continues through Aug. 31 in FST’s Gompertz Theatre. For tickets, call (941) 366-9000 or visit floridatudiotheatre.org.