Marc Camoletti's French farce, Don't Dress for Dinner, is still regaling audiences 18 years after its March 20, 1991 opening at London's Apollo Theatre. Dallas' Theater Three opened a side-splitting production of this hilarious play in its theater-in-the-round on February 9, 2009, following a weekend of previews.
The setting is a converted barn, now the country house of Bernard (Daylon Walton) and his wife, Jacqueline (Jody Rudmon), about an hour's drive from Paris. Jacqueline is about to depart for Paris to visit her mother for the weekend, and Bernard has planned to entertain his mistress, Suzanne, aka Suzy (Tricia Ponsford) during Jackie's absence. He has hired a catering company to send a cook, Suzette, also called Suzy (Kimberly Condict) to prepare the meal. When Bernard's friend Robert (Ashley Wood) calls him to say he will be in the area, Bernard invites Robert for the weekend, thus establishing a perfect alibi.
Robert calls Bernard to say he is on his way, but Jackie answers the phone. When she finds out Robert will be visiting, she changes her plans, as she is Robert's mistress and doesn't want to be away while he is at her house. When Bernard asks who was on the phone, Jackie says it was her mother who "has the flu"; so Jackie is postponing her visit. Jackie then calls her mother to say she has the flu and will visit her the following weekend. This convoluted scenario sets the stage for a two-hour romp of mistaken identities and numerous thwarted infidelities.
Director John McLean has staged a humorous but uneven production, often allowing his cast members to exceed the boundaries of a professional production, most notably not reigning in Kimberly Condict's way over-the-top portrayal of Suzette. At the production reviewed she was so out of control, she walked into the corner of the sofa on one of her exits and quickly ad-libbed a cover line, none of which was called for in the script. Much of the time, though, she turned in a very funny characterization.
Ashley Wood steals the show as Jacqueline's lover, Robert. Although his antics are broad, they're appropriately under control. Jody Rudman also gives an outstanding performance. In the past year she has matured into one of Dallas' best actresses. The rest of the cast is fine and exhibit excellent timing, a must in a French farce.
The thing about farce is to know when to be broad and when to be subtle; it's a fine line, and T3s cast is more a group of able actors than a finely honed ensemble. The art of pulling off this feat rests squarely in the lap of the director, and McLean seems to have stood up too abruptly and let this cast occasionally slip to the floor.
