With its period costumes and lilting music, you might expect The Beaux Stratagem, now being staged at Shakespeare Theatre, to be a very civilized little British comedy, a kind of gently amusing work rather than anything particularly uproarious. It might earn a chuckle here or there, but didn't seem like the kind of work to have you doubling over in your seat at any of its antics.

So much for expectations - Beaux is extremely funny, at times even hilarious. It probably shouldn't be a surprise. Shakespeare Theatre always does a good job getting big laughs out of seemingly mild-mannered works (Love's Labor's Lost, anyone?). Beaux is no exception.

The plot for the play is simple enough - two formerly wealthy gentlemen have run out of money, and figure they can get back into wealth if one of them can snag a rich wife. Tom Aimwell (Christian Conn) acts the part of a lord; his friend Jack Archer (Christopher Innvar) plays the servant. They quickly set their sights on the wealthy Dorinda (Julia Coffey), but things get complicated when Aimwell actually falls for her, and Archer for her sister-in-law Kate (Veanne Cox).

So where's the funny? Part of it is in the fresh adaptation of the Restoration comedy, prepared by seasoned authors Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig. The language is contemporary and witty, awarding barbed one-liners to just about everyone in the cast (particularly amusing are the soliloquy asides Innvar frequently delivers to the audience before scene changes). But the script would die in the wrong hands, and Shakespeare Theatre deserves credit for assembling a worthy group of comedians to deliver it.

Foremost of these is Cox, as the dry, aristocratic Kate who has grown more than weary of her shifty drunk of a husband (Ian Bedford). Contempt drips from her every line, but this doesn't make her portrait of a frustrated wife any less likeable, or even sexy. Colleen Delany gives a spirited turn as the wily barmaid Cherry, and Rick Foucheux as the shifty Gloss can always be counted on to bring a glint of intelligence to a bumbling role. The shady suitors of the production are both endearing cads, with Innvar particularly shining as a man who is no angel, but can charm with the sincerity he does choose to brandish when the time calls for it.

The rotating set for The Beaux' Strategem is rather a marvel, switching from a woody tavern to an impeccable drawing room in practically an instant, the perfect eye candy for a sweet and silly show.

The Beaux Stratagem runs through Dec. 31 at Shakespeare Theatre. Tickets are available online.