Perfect Arrangement

Bob and Norma work for the U.S government, a good job in the 1950s. They're friends at work and after hours, a happy little foursome with the addition of Millie (Bob's spouse) and Jim (Norma's husband). Then Bob and Norma get a new assignment: Root out and expose any homosexuals working for the government. Senator Joseph McCarthy has denounced gays and lesbians as perverts, and at the time he got what he wanted. It's bad news for the duo, because they're living a lie. Bob and Jim and Norma and Millie are committed couples living under the cover of two fake marriages and a real friendship, and now it's all endangered. Can they betray their fellow homosexuals to protect themselves? Topher Payne's play Perfect Arrangement draws from the tropes of TV sitcoms and the real-world Lavender Scare, which destroyed hundreds of lives because of one paranoid, power-hungry toad of a man. R-S Theatrics presents the play at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday (December 7 to 23) at the Marcelle Theater (3310 Samuel Shepard Drive; www.r-stheatrics.com). Tickets are $20 to $25.