Don't Dress for Dinner

Don’t Dress for Dinner by Marc Camoletti, adapted by Robin Hawdon, is a French farce, translated from the French, and set in rural France. It concerns a scheming adulterous husband who contrives to bring his sophisticated Parisian mistress Suzanne, to his country retreat while his wife is away visiting her mother for the weekend. What could go wrong? The answer is everything – as his wife cancels her plans at short notice when she learns that her husband has invited as an alibi, his best friend Robert (who coincidentally is her lover) for the weekend while she is away.

Michael Hughes played Bernard the cheating husband well with a mix of freneticism and panic, as his lies and deceit become more and more tangled as the story develops.

His wife, Jacqueline, played with style by Lynne Kirk, was excellent as the confused wife, scorned woman, and sexy lover, determined that she will have her night of passion with her lover Robert.

Robert was played by Andrew Rudd, and his expressive face was put to good use as he attempted to maintain the multiple deceptions that his friend Bernard is inventing on the hoof, joining in with a few himself as he tries to conceal his affair with Jaqueline.

Emma Dobbs played the outside caterer Suzette who is initially mistaken by Robert for the mistress, Suzanne, when she arrives at the cottage. She is inveigled (i.e. bribed) into keeping up the increasingly complex and hilarious deceptions as the situation develops. She was excellent in her portrayal of the confusion she feels and is such a good comedienne. The contrast between her northern accent and the received pronunciation of the house guests was particularly effective, especially when she had to feign the refined accent of a Parisian model.

Michelle Collins was well cast as the mistress and Parisian model, Suzanne, and both looked and acted the part convincingly. Her height in comparison to the much shorter Michael Hughes was used to comic effect.

The final character to arrive at the cottage was Nick Fletcher, playing convincingly the no nonsense working-class husband of Suzette the cook, astonished at the goings-on at the cottage.

This play is fast-moving and wordy, and requires a very competent cast who are completely confident in their lines and in each other. It was a delight to see this happening here.

The stage at the South Holland Centre affords a generous set, and advantage was taken of the large space available. All of the many costumes, the furniture and set were excellent, and period-appropriate, and the set builders and crew are to be congratulated. Sound and lighting were spot on.

Director Glen Barker, with Mandi Wood as his assistant and David Whipps as producer, have created a first-rate production which was hugely appreciated by a good-sized audience. Stage management under Arline Evenden and Jules Jones, ran smoothly, and all hair and make-up were appropriate.

In short, a very good production of a difficult farce. Well done, St Nics.

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