Don’t Dress For Dinner: a dinner date not worth keeping
Don’t Dress for Dinner By Robin Hawdon
Adapted from Marc Camoletti’s French farce Kanata Theatre
Directed by Peter Williams
The kindest comment about Don’t Dress for Dinner is that it makes Marc Camoletti’s better known sex farce Boeing-Boeing look good. Although playwright Robin Hawdon’s adaptation/translation of Camoletti’s 1991 formulaic repeat was a West End success in its early years, it is very much a poor sibling. It’s also a reminder that without superb performances and first-class timing the sexual fling fantasies of yesteryear belong in the past. They are just not particularly funny in 2018.
Certainly, in the current Kanata Theatre production, directors Peter Williams and Geoff Williams and their cast try hard to milk the hard-to-swallow script for laughs. And, to be fair, a number of the members of the unusually sparse audience on opening night were amused, a few even rising to offer a standing ovation.
But, despite varying degrees of success from the cast in trying to inject some believability into their characters, the clunkiness of the script dominates. (Only when executed at breakneck speed, so that no one has time to think, do farces of this nature overcome their flimsy plotlines.)
As in Boeing-Boeing, the philandering protagonist is named Bernard with a friend named Robert to help him extricate himself from the complications caused by infidelity. The twist in Don’t Dress for Dinner is that Bernard’s wife, Jacqueline, is equally adulterous — with Robert, of course. He, meanwhile, has been coopted to pretend that Bernard’s mistress, Suzanne, is his love interest. However, not having met her before, he mistakes the similarly named caterer, Suzette, for the woman supposed to be his paramour. From here on, the two Suzies swap functions temporarily.
Too complex or too silly? Who cares while watching this convoluted plot unravel?
There are some glimmerings of light among the performances. Jamie Hegland, as Robert, earned some well-deserved applause for a rapid monologue that attempted to explain all. This is one of the moments when the speed of the comedy is just right.
Kelly Fuoco, as Jacqueline, delivers a solid interpretation as both betrayed wife and betrayed mistress, and Sabrina Mussai is stylish and elegant in appearance and manner as the reason that Bernard tried to arrange the romantic tryst in the first place.
As Bernard, Andrew Hosale is part frantic, part low-key in his distress and rarely seems in control of the situation. Meanwhile, Reba Sigler, employing a variety of odd accents, frequently over-acts, particularly when attempting to employ a false upper-class persona. Comedy of any kind works best when played straight and, when the play is weak, over-the-top interpretations emphasize rather than overcome the weakness of the script.
The appearance of the straight guy, George, (Shawn Thorpe) is a relief as well as a welcome indication that the seemingly long two hours of Don’t Dress for Dinner is almost over.
Don’t Dress for Dinner continues at Kanata Theatre to September 29.
Director: Peter Williams
Set: Jim Clarke
Lighting: Bill McLaughlin
Sound: Bert Ljungstrom
Costumes: Saundra Eaves
Cast:
Bernard……………………………………….Andrew Hosale
Jacqueline…………………………………….Kelly Fuoco
Robert………………………………………..Jamie Hegland
Suzette……………………………………….Reba Sigler
Suzanne………………………………………Sabrina Mussai
George………………………………………..Shawn Thorpe