All of those daredevils who have braved the rapids of Niagara Falls in barrels and other homemade contraptions aren't the only ones to recognize the theatrical possibilities of those famous falls. Up-and-coming playwright David Lindsay-Abaire makes the celebrated honeymoon spot the focal point of his comedy Wonder of the World, a quirky tale of a woman's journey to self-discovery that just happens to be filled with many strange detours.

The play opened last week at City Lights Theater Company in downtown San Jose.

After young wife Cass discovers the guilty little secret her husband of seven years has been hiding in his sock drawer, she leaves him, setting off to find the free-spirited life she fears she has missed out on. It may seem like bad planning that she heads for one of the most famously romantic spots on earth, Niagara Falls, but this definitely isn't an average tale of scratching a seven-year itch.

The cast of characters that Cass meets in Niagara offers the adventure-starved young woman more than a slice of life--it's practically a whole seven-layer cake. Among others, Cass befriends Captain Mike, a tour-boat captain whose fondness for buying groceries in bulk led to his wife's untimely demise, and Lois, a sarcastic alcoholic, who, having been left by her husband, is planning a suicide-by-waterfall and has a pickle barrel all picked out for the occasion.

Lindsay-Abaire is best known for his offbeat play Fuddy Meers, about a woman who suffers from a rare form of amnesia that wipes her memory clean each night, and her bizarre, communication-challenged family that can barely get it together to set her straight each day.

In 2001, Lindsay-Abaire received the Kesselring Prize for Playwriting. The accolade was especially appropriate for the playwright because the award is named for Joseph Kesselring, the writer of the play (and movie) Arsenic and Old Lace, which Lindsay-Abaire has cited as one of his earliest influences. Indeed, dark screwball comedy, with elements of the absurd, is one of Lindsay-Abaire's fortes.

The original production of Wonder of the World opened off-Broadway in the fall of 2001 with a cast that included Sarah Jessica Parker and comedian/writer Amy Sedaris. City Lights' production, co-directed by Tom Gough and Brian Stevens, features Valerie Allen, Jeremy Anderson, Jim Johnson, Jackie O'Keefe, Ryan Oden, Carla Pantoja and Lauri Smith.

"Wonder of the World" runs through April 10 at City Lights Theater Company, 529 S. Second St., San Jose. Tickets are $16­$22 ($12 students and teachers). For more information, call 408.295.4200 or visit www.cltc.org.