Join the Orangeburg Part-Time Players as they take the stage this weekend for the opening of the hilarious "Lie, Cheat and Genuflect," the story of the Buckle brothers and their side-splitting scheme to kidnap their cousin and steal her inheritance.

Written by William Van Zandt and Jane Milmore, "Lie, Cheat and Genuflect" follows Tom and Billy Buckle, played by Ken Herring and David Hutto, who plot to rip-off their late grandfather's estate by stealing his money to pay-off Tom's debt to mobster Pizza Face Petrillo (Bo McBratnie), the loan-shark who covered Tom's bets at the racetrack.

After failing to find the money, and not having even a remote chance at the inheritance after falling out of their grandfather's favor years before, the black sheep of the family decide the only way to get their hands on the money is to disguise Billy as the one person who has a shot at getting it all -- their long-lost cousin, who also happens to be a nun.

But their plan unravels when the pair kidnaps the wrong girl and tries to fool the lawyer and loyal housemaid and while avoiding Pizza Face Petrillo. Throw in the real cousin Lisa and the mobster's girlfriend, and you have the recipe for a laugh-packed farce as Tom tries mightily to compensate for Billy's habitual errors.

Director Donna Smoak said this year's production follows the lines of last year's comedic success, "Love, Sex and the IRS," also written by the Van Zandt-Milmore duo.

"Both plays have a pair of screw-ups trying to make things right by one of them pretending to be a woman, and best of all, have a lot of physical comedy," she said. "This three-act play has been a lot of work for these actors, who have had to cope with a lot of unforeseen circumstances that don't normally occur during a production, and I want to thank them for the fine job they've done."

Also starring Megan Trayham as the kidnapped cousin, Craig Harward as the lawyer, Daniel Harward as the mobster's girlfriend, Kim Whitesides as the man-hungry housemaid and Sherri Copeland as old Mr. Buckle's nurse, "Lie, Cheat and Genuflect" will show at the BlueBird Theatre at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, June 1, 2, 8 and 9, and 3 p.m. Sundays, June 3 and 10. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children 16 and under and seniors 55 and older.

For more information or to reserve a seat, call 803-536-5454.

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