About the Play:
Don't Dress for Dinner is a full-length farce comedy by Marc Camoletti adapted by Robin Hawdon. With his wife out of town, an alibi from his best friend, and a gourmet chef to add culinary spice, Bernard has the perfect romantic evening planned for his French mistress – or so he thinks. Hidden identities and outrageous infidelities are exposed in Marc Camoletti's sequel to Boeing Boeing.
From the acclaimed writer of Boeing Boeing, the shenanigans continue in what many consider to be the most brilliant bedroom farce of all time. It has all the earmarks of the classic French farce: marital infidelity, misunderstandings and mistaken identities among the upper-class. It makes for a great laugh out loud evening of entertainment.
Don't Dress for Dinner is the brilliant sequel to Boeing Boeing. It's 10 years later, Robert and Bernard are happily settled down. Bernard is planning a romantic weekend with his chic Parisian mistress in his charming converted French farmhouse, whilst his wife, Jacqueline, is away. He has arranged for a Cordon Bleu cook to prepare gourmet delights, and has invited his best friend, Robert, along too to provide the alibi. It's foolproof; what could possibly go wrong? Well.... suppose Robert turns up not realizing quite why he has been invited. Suppose Robert and Jacqueline are secret lovers, and consequently determined that Jacqueline will NOT leave for the weekend. Suppose the cook has to pretend to be the mistress and the mistress is unable to cook. Suppose everyone's alibi gets confused with everyone else's. An evening of hilarious confusion ensues as Bernard and Robert improvise at breakneck speed.
Don't Dress for Dinner, under the original title Pajamas Pour Six, opened in Paris in 1987 and ran for over two years. The English‐language adaptation premiered in London at the Apollo Theatre in 1991, transferred to the Duchess, and ran for six years. It has since played constantly throughout the English speaking world, in particular America where it has received several hundred productions in regional and community theatres.
Cast: 3 female, 3 male
What people say:
"Hurtling along at the speed of light, this breathtaking farce is a near faultless piece of theatrical invention. Within seconds we are drawn into a delicious web of marital treachery which accelerates with classic symmetry to an all-star denouement." — The Guardian
"The labyrinthine twists and turns are liberally sprinkled with jokes, amiably roared to keep everyone giggling ... It gives the whole cast the chance to enjoy themselves going over the top ... The performance is a delight." — Daily Telegraph
"I feared it would be boring-boring, but it isn't-isn't. It's a nifty comedy farce about double adultery and gourmet cooking ... I can't think of a better way of forgetting the recession." — Sunday Times
"I found myself having two of the most rib-tickling hilarious hours I have spent in the theatre in some time. It's amazing what the right combination of smart writing, polished acting and slick direction can do to energize a tired genre ... A text book example of how to create the perfect farce." — Chicago Style Magazine
"The good times are back at the Royal George Theatre ... A series of rib-rousing strokes. All night long. Better yet, you don't have to suspend your intelligence ... In a comedy of confusion that almost collapses under the weight of duplicity, mistaken identity, and extramarital affairs, but somehow stays in the air like a precarious but well-built souffle." — Chicago Tribune
About the Author:
Marc Camoletti (1923-2003) was a prolific Swiss-born, French playwright during the latter half of the twentieth century. Best known for his classic farce Boeing Boeing, he wrote 40 plays, which have been translated into 18 languages and produced professionally in 55 countries. It's estimated that 20 million people have seen his plays live and half a billion people have seen a recorded version.
Robin Hawdon is an English playwright especially known for the popularity of his comedies. His plays are amongst the most frequently produced around the world – his name is as well known abroad as in his native Great Britain. At any one moment there are likely to be a dozen or so productions of various titles, old and new, running in various countries.