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).