DON'T Dress for Dinner is a classic farce – you either love it or you don't.
The plot is of course convoluted, involving mistaken identity, affairs, lingerie and loads of slapstick.
Ian Dickens' adaptation of the French original is back at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre, Guildford, where it was first performed, before an eight-year stint in London.
Jacqueline has arranged to go away for the weekend leaving husband Bernard secretly to entertain his mistress Suzanne and his friend Robert for the weekend. He's organised for a cordon bleu cook, Suzette, to make dinner for them. Jacqueline finds out Bernard is up to something and cancels her weekend, at which point we discover she is having an affair with Robert. The evening is a farcical concoction of characters pretending to be someone they're not.
In this sense the plot is flawless. The permutations of relationships between characters spirals until the audience is left wondering who is with whom and how any ridiculous situation can be explained – which amazingly it is.
The cast worked extremely hard in what was a very physical play, where good timing and delivery are essential. They played for laughs one minute and are stood up for a gag the next.
Profusely sweating, Robert Duncan played Bernard convincingly, despite all the stress on stage looking like it really had given him high blood pressure.
Giles Watling's Robert was suitably blubbering and confused, but bordered on the silly and irritating at times. In an attempt to get an easy laugh he enters the stage in a dressing gown, socks and suspenders and, for some inexplicable reason, a David Beckham style Mohican.
Vicki Michelle is perfect for the wife and mistress Jacqueline, and uses her assets from 'Allo 'Allo to their best potential.
Glenda McKay as the quirky cook is comical but again has the potential to grate after sustained one-liners. Melanie Stace as the mistress is physically stunning, but on this occasion wasn't wholly convincing.
The set is excellent and a very believable interpretation of a converted farmhouse, with the obligatory multiple doors for quick and frequent exits.
However, with doors and staircases leading nowhere, fake window boxes, and the familiar yet unfamiliar faces of the cast, who end up with wet trousers and egg white on their faces – it all started to look like something from Noel's House Party.
Judging by the response from the audience, Don't Dress for Dinner is a very funny play and if you're a fan of farces you'll have a great evening.
If you don't find men walking around on their knees, people being squirted with soda siphons and caught in compromising positions amusing, then save your money.
Don't Dress for Dinner runs until tomorrow (Saturday).
Rebecca Kemp