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'Here we go again' with nutty farce
(by Herb Hammer - June 09, 2011)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
'Here we go again' with nutty farce
Somewhere in the early portions of Act 2 in Marc Camoletti's sex farce "Don't Dress for Dinner," one of his characters is given the line, "Oh, here we go again." The comedy is playing these June nights at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, where director Barbara Rhoades and her charges go all out to give everyone as many good laughs as they can.
The only trouble with Mr. Camoletti's popular effort is the fact that the two-hour, two-act play tends to repeat itself more often than is entirely necessary. "Here we go again," no kidding. There are plenty of laughs, but the laughs are played over and over again.
"Don't Dress for Dinner" played London's West End for most of the 1990s. The Brits can't seem to get enough adulteress comedy. In New York, the play hung on for a mere two weeks.
The entire play is set up within the first five or six minutes. Bernard, played splendidly by Adam Young, is planning to pack his wife, Jacqueline, away to her mother's for the weekend in hopes of entertaining his mistress, Suzanne. As an alibi, Bernard has hired a cordon bleu-level cook, Suzette, and his friend Robert to dinner. It isn't long before we find that Jacqueline is having an affair with Robert.
This is where the fun, in split second fashion, begins.
Somehow, Suzette, the caterer, is confused with the mistress. This problem, among others, has Bernard and Robert relentlessly attempting to cover things up. Confusion tops confusion before the final wrap-up.
The cast appears to be having one whale of a good time, which always helps when dealing with farce. Besides Mr. Young, who anchors the play, the fine Jen Klika does a nice turn as Jacqueline. Don Bernardo is a rowdy Robert, while the rest hang in there to keep the action racing along.
The surprisingly hilarious Chris White plays the cook, Suzette. The innocent cook, by the way, is on the take. The two flustered gentlemen are forced to pay her off in order to keep the scam going. Amy Pelleg is fine as the lovely Suzanne, while Brad Baker, as Suzette's husband, is refreshingly funny as the play gets ready to sign off.
The problem on opening night was, well, the action didn't quite race along as it should. Too much dead air between lines made the play drag in Act 2. The final scene had us hoping that Act 2 wouldn't lead into Act 3.
This is the second time around for "Don't Dress for Dinner" at CVLT. Barbara Rhoades, the premier farce director, also did the honors in 1996.
Edmond Wolff's designing and constructing of the renovated French farmhouse is practically heroic.
By the way, Mr. Camoletti's French farce was adapted by Robin Hawdon, who turned it into a British farce. The French, it would seem, like more sex in their nutty farces. This one fills the bill.
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