MONMOUTH — Try to cheat the IRS and expect consequences, some of them pretty funny as played out in “Love, Sex and the IRS,” to be staged Jan. 22-31 by Monmouth Community Players.

Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore’s comedy is jampacked with twists of fate, sight gags, mistaken identities and comic lines. In the 30 years since its opening, “Love, Sex and the IRS” has played at 10,000 theaters, mostly in the United States but also in Japan, Brazil, Germany, Canada, England, France and Spain.

The show opens with Leslie (played by Eric Lindquist) having fallen desperately in love with his roommate’s fiancée, Kate Dennis (Ashley St.Pierre). He is also informed by his roommate, Jon Trachtman (Sam Crawford), that both of them are in big trouble – the IRS is coming to audit them.

Jon reveals that he has been filing tax returns for them as a married couple, taking advantage of the gender ambiguity of Leslie’s name. The only solution, according to Jon, is for Leslie to masquerade as a woman just long enough for the IRS inspector to buy into their ruse.

At about this time, however, landlord/building super Mr. Jansen (Matthew Blais), a low-class heavyweight, proclaims to Leslie that absolutely no women are allowed in the apartment. And IRS inspector Floyd Spinner (Noel Thibodeau) shows up two hours early in an attempt to catch the boys in their lie.

In addition, Jon’s mother, Mrs. Trachtman (Kathleen Nation), arrives unannounced, uninitiated in the deceptions and with her own set of comic demands, misunderstandings and vulnerabilities. Leslie’s neurotic girlfriend Connie (Molly McGill) and Arnold Grunion (Christopher Allen), a justice of the peace, also get involved in the antics ranging from fast talk, foolish authority figures and misdirection to hiding and comic drinking.

Directed by Lee Kerr, the production crew includes Matt Buganza, assistant director; Jocelyn Curtis; Greg French, lights; Noel Thibodeau, Duane Glover and Reno Thibodeau, set design and construction; Jocelyn French, publicity; and Jen Schultz, ticket sales.

The show will run Jan. 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and 31. Friday and Saturday performances will begin at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. For tickets, call 933-2229.