Don’t Dress For Dinner

Don’t Dress for Dinner is a classic French farce that delivers fast-paced comedy, intricate plotting, and escalating misunderstandings. The story centres on Bernard, who plans a romantic weekend with his mistress while his wife Jacqueline is away. To manage the deception, he invites his best friend Robert to act as an alibi and hires a cook, Suzette, to prepare a gourmet meal. Naturally, nothing goes to plan. Jacqueline returns unexpectedly, identities become confused, alliances shift rapidly, and what begins as a simple lie, spirals into a whirlwind of mistaken identities, improvised relationships, and frantic cover-ups.

One of the play’s greatest strengths is its tight construction. Each scene builds on the chaos of the previous one, with doors slamming, characters narrowly missing each other, and revelations arriving at precisely the wrong moment. Hawdon’s adaptation sharpens the dialogue and gives the characters a distinctly British comic sensibility while preserving Camoletti’s original intent.

CDS had done an amazing job of the set, creating a beautiful representation of a barn conversion with plenty of doors and exits to create the farcical chaos. I have seen sets of far lesser visual quality in professional venues so your set team are to be applauded. One aspect to note is that noise travelled very easily across it, actors moving into position backstage could be very clearly heard in parts. It had been dressed extremely nicely, absolutely giving the impression of a very comfortable existence. Given that Bernard is shown to splash the cash (private cooks, expensive coats!), this created absolutely the right ambience.

Costumes were on point for all characters although quite how Suzanne managed everything she had to do in those towering heels was an absolute feat in itself! There was good attention to detail, for example the coat really did look expensive and had been adorned with the appropriate label – don’t think it was actually the real thing but it looked the part! Props too were all spot on.

Sound and lighting seemed to be free of any first night gremlins although in a farce like this, it is the actors creating the chaos rather than the tech so great to see it all go smoothly. But as I say, farce is in the character portrayal and execution. The characters themselves are well-defined archetypes of farce. Bernard is confidently reckless, pushed from control into desperation as his plans unravel. Jacqueline is sharp and perceptive, quickly asserting authority once she realises something is amiss. Robert provides a contrasting mix of panic and opportunism, while Suzette’s warmth and practicality often make her the emotional anchor amid the chaos. The humour arises not only from the situation but from how each character responds to pressure, with lies stacking upon lies until the truth becomes almost irrelevant.

There were a few challenges in terms of execution, maybe a few opening night nerves crept in, and the prompt was needed on several occasions. What was fabulous to see though was the cast working as a tight knit team and getting each other out of holes wherever they could – I spotted a few situations where one cast member was obviously reframing or rephrasing to try and keep everything on track which is always amazing to see as that is what being in a great cast is all about. Bear in mind as well, that the average audience member almost certainly didn’t spot any of that at all, it’s only because I have been there myself!!

 Bernard (Paul Roberts) is the lynchpin for all the farcical chaos to come with his machinations to get his mistress over for the night. Paul started with a few jitters but soon settled into his stride becoming increasingly and hilariously more and more stressed as his well laid plans fall about his ears and his shirt collection takes a battering! 

His wife Jacqueline (Adele Evans) soon turns out to not be quite the wronged woman we think she is although she never quite works out the full extent of what is going on! This was an assured performance though quite “coiled spring” from the start, it might have been interesting to see that build a little slower as both her plans unravel and her husband’s (possible) betrayal becomes apparent.

Bernard’s best friend, Robert (Andy Cholerton) is a great part as he is the willing stooge in Bernard’s plan whilst also being hiswife’s lover which is the absolute best set up for a farce if you have ever seen one! Andy played this very well and the facial and physical acting glossed over the odd area where the lines went awry

The glamorous mistress from Paris, Suzanne (Helen Stott) arrives to add tension and hilarity as she is mistaken for the cook and attempts to fill that role. This was a great performance from Helen who had the poise, the glamour and the humour in the midst of the crazy situation her character finds herself in.

The actual cook, Suzette (Anna Hallett) makes extortion look easy as she is dropped into this crazy situation and realises she can tap up everyone for a few euros (50 at a time to be exact!). This was an excellent performance, visually hilarious as Anna is quite small so was towered above which added a visual element when she had everyone paying up to get her to play along

And we don’t see that much of Suzette’s husband George (John Bingham) but he adds yet another realm to the chaos when he arrives to collect his wife who he thinks has just done a straightforward cooking job! His over-reaction when this appears not to be true makes you wonder how all the threads are ever going to untangle!

I would like to compliment some of the physical acting in terms of spillages as there were several and they were all executed very smoothly. This was a great performance overall that was just slightly impacted by a few opening night nerves which in no way spoiled the audience’s enjoyment in any way (it’s the reviewers curse to spot things that everyone else doesn’t). I would have loved to have seen the later performances when everyone had settled but I doubt the audience walking out would have changed their tune – a great company giving another great night out!

Thank you as aways to CDS for the very warm welcome and hospitality on the night.

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