It may be no accident that Timothy Royston Westerby, the main character in Ray Cooney and John Chapman's "There Goes the Bride" at Oyster Mill Playhouse, invents a beautiful young lover for himself just as he is about to marry off his only daughter.  But it would take a keener student of psychology than I to be able to work out all the implications.  

Suffice it to say that none of the characters in this clever British sex farce, written in 1974, is equipped to deal with the double stress of both preparing for the wedding and dealing with a father, played by Stephen F. J. Martin, who is suddenly enraptured by a "girl" no one else can even see.  

At the beginning of the play Westerby, who works in advertising, devises an ad campaign for a bra company, based on the 1920s icon of the flapper.  When he trips and bumps his head, Westerby fantasizes that a cardboard cutout of the flapper girl has magically come to life and is trying energetically to seduce him.  The humor in "There Goes the Bride," is largely based on the other family members' not knowing when Westerby is talking to them or relating to his new "girlfriend."

These communication mix-ups pervade the play; when the phone rings, you can bet that whoever answers the phone will say all sorts of inappropriate things in the belief that he or she is talking to a different person than is really at the other end of the line.  

The actors in this production, directed by Joyce O'Donnell, knock themselves out to sustain the fast-paced verbal repartee and slapstick comedy.  Martin plays his character as if Westerby is himself almost as bewildered by the situation as everyone else.  Greg Merkel plays Westerby's exasperated business partner, Bill Shorter, with a hilarious deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on his face.  

Lois Heagy plays Westerby's indignant wife, Ursula, with an angry resolve to do whatever it takes to salvage her daughter's celebration.  Kristie Grey is perfect as the devastated bride.  

Larry Wineland plays Charles Babcock, the infuriated father of the groom, as if he really needs to make sense of a situation that grows crazier by the minute.  Meg Davis plays "Polly," the girl visible only to Westerby, with true sexiness.  And Mike Stubbs is just right as the hilariously forgetful grandfather, paired with the admirable Fran Horkowitz as the much-too-serious grandmother.  

As all those who have seen the 1980 film version with Twiggy, Martin Balsam and Phil Silvers know, "There Goes the Bride," is as bubbly and frothy as champagne.