William Shakespeare called the world "this great stage of fools." The latest proof comes from certain Minnesota bars.

Like so many other places in the United States (but, unfortunately, not Pennsylvania), Minnesota recently implemented a ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots -- another sensible blow struck for the cause of public health.

But the law contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions and through this loophole have paraded smart-aleck bar owners and their wheezing customers. Some bars have pretended to be putting on theatrical productions, but their main scene is just drinking and smoking. They print up playbills, encourage customers to come in costume and say that makes them "actors."

According to an Associated Press story, the customers are having a swell time as they play their accustomed roles of tobacco addicts. As they puff away, they sometimes speak with accents and do some improvisation -- at least until the state health department ends the show.

The AP quoted a nonsmoking group as saying that about 30 bars in Minnesota have been staging the faux theater productions and describing cigarettes as props. The health department has vowed to begin cracking down on theater nights with fines as high as $10,000. Minnesota Health Commissioner Sanne Magnan said: "It is time for the curtain to fall on these theatrics."

Yes, but the odds are that the smoking actors will get a chance to reprise their roles later in life. It's a pity, though, that deathbed scenes aren't funny.