Don't Dress For Dinner

There are always two things guaranteed when you visit the Little Theatre in Donnington and that’s a very warm welcome and a wonderful evening’s entertainment. And the company’s latest production of ‘Don’t Dress For Dinner’ certainly didn’t disappoint. In fact, it was so brilliantly staged that there were roars of laughter and spontaneous applause from a packed house all evening!

After a successful run of ‘Pyjama Pour Six’ in Paris, British playwright and actor, Robin Hawdon, was commissioned to adapt the play for English speaking audiences. The new version opened in London’s West End at the Apollo Theatre in March 1991, directed by Peter Farago and starring such famous names as Simon Cadell and Su Pollard, probably most notorious for their roles in BBC Television’s long-running sitcom ‘Hi-de-Hi’. Since then the play has been successfully presented by many amateur theatre companies up and down the country and further afield.

‘Don’t Dress For Dinner’ is set in an old farm building, a two-hour-ish drive from Paris, which Bernard and his wife Jacqueline have tastefully converted to use as a love nest and weekend retreat. On one weekend in particular, in fact, the one on which we would soon be joining in the fun, Bernard is planning to entertain his mistress while Jacqueline is away visiting her mother. It isn’t long before she smells a rat having discovered that Bernard’s alibi, his close friend Robert and her secret long-time lover, has been invited to stay. Plans become even more complicated with the arrival of Suzette (Suzy), a cordon bleu chef who’s been hired to prepare some gourmet delights and who’s mistaken by Robert for Bernard’s mistress. Having been delayed at the railway station waiting for a taxi, the real mistress, Suzanne, also known as Suzy, eventually arrives, causing even more confusion! And so what was going to be a well-organised naughty French weekend quickly turns into utter chaos as the outrageous shenanigans begin – much to our delight!

As I walked into the theatre and took my seat, the open stage set was on view and, as always at Donnington, magnificently designed and constructed. In the main living room of the farmhouse, there was a door to the kitchen, formerly the dairy, up stage left with a fully stocked bar and further door below to a bedroom which in a previous life had been the cowshed. There was a large, curtained window and main entrance door upstage centre and two further doors to bedrooms on the right, the upper one via stairs to the hayloft and the lower one to the former piggery. Some elements of the original farmhouse building were still visible in the room which was otherwise tastefully decorated with light beige walls and floral wallpaper. It was also well furnished with a gold-coloured chaise longue and small table and lamp on the right and a large smoky-grey sofa in the centre with another small telephone table to its left. A classy four shaded lamp hanging centre completed the overall picture.

For such a quick moving comedy like this to work, a group of very capable actors are essential, all word perfect and with impeccable timing to gain maximum effect and keep the audience fully engaged. And they did! From start to finish every move and gesture had been carefully planned and honed to perfection in performance. The fact that there were two main female characters named Suzanne and Suzette and both nicknamed Suzy provided even more scope for the fun and frolics we were soon going to enjoy.

In the role of Bernard, Danny Clayton gave a brilliant all-round performance, with great style and faultless comedy timing. I particularly liked his facial expressions and changes of tone in voice which became a little more hushed and desperate on several occasions as he had to think on his feet to quickly dig himself out of the awkward problems he alone had created, very much to our enjoyment.

As Bernard’s wife, Jacqueline, Lisa Adams gave another fine performance, again with excellent comic timing. At first, the genuine and dutiful wife popping off to see her elderly mother for the weekend but quickly changing her plans after hearing about the imminent arrival of her secret lover Robert and the possibility of sharing a bedroom with him.

To fit in with Bernard’s sleazy plans for the weekend and provide him with an alibi for his misdemeanours, Robert, superbly played with great skill by Luke Bridges, had been invited to join him and had flown in from his new home in Singapore at short notice! Still a little bewildered why he was there but grateful for the opportunity to see his secret lover, Jacqueline. So just as we began to understand the relationships between the characters, it was clear that as the plot unfolded, it was going to become even more complicated especially when Robert got the two Susy’s mixed up and at one stage was actually masquerading as Suzette’s uncle!

With the two Susy’s having the same nickname, Katy Perks as Suzanne and Abigail Mayers as Suzette, both took full advantage of the possibilities for totally unbridled confusion and gave superb and highly comical performances. Abigail was the more conservative of the two, but happy to join in with the fun and pretend to be Bernard’s mistress for the occasional 50 euro additional tip, whilst Katy, the more outrageous Suzy, innocently accepted the mantle of cordon bleu chef not knowing the first thing about French cuisine, let alone cooking it!

In the second half of the play, as if we hadn’t already laughed so much, the sudden and unexpected arrival of George, Suzette’s husband, to take his wife home added even more fun and games to the plot. Menacingly dressed in a karate training outfit, Cameron Mcintyre wasn’t quite as tough as he looked but gave a fine performance made even funnier by his total naivety to understand what was going on!

So as everyone’s alibis got confused with everyone else’s, the hilarious confusion motored on at breakneck speed right up to the final curtain in one of the finest comedy productions I have seen for some time.

The costumes were all perfectly in vogue, even quite spectacular in the case of Lisa’s slinky dresses and nightwear and Katy’s beautiful red dress. Danny’s pyjamas came in handy having soiled three white shirts, and Luke’s hat was useful to stop Lisa getting too close to him! The lighting and sound were perfectly adequate.

But as always, my final comments, and probably the most important, must go to Director, Neil Armstrong, Stage Manager, Vicki Anderson-Stevens, and Technical Manager, C J Allen for maintaining the very highest degree of production we always enjoy at The Little Theatre.

Thank you once more for your hospitality and warm welcome. I’m already looking forward to tasting the results of your ‘Great British Bake Off’ in June. I’m very partial to a nice cake!

Chris C Bell
Acting Regional Representative
NODA West Midlands District 2

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