“Don’t Dress for Dinner” by Marc Camoletti doesn’t miss a trick in keeping the audience in hysterics. The latest production offered by Lakeside Little Theatre (LLT) is a typical farce and utilizes cases of mistaken identity, characters flying in and out of unexpected doorways, lightning fast dialogue and outright lies to keep the joke running. Director Roger Tredway is to be complimented on keeping his cast whipped into the frenzy necessary to make the whole thing work.
The story gets underway when the wife of a French couple decides to go and visit her mother for a weekend. The husband sees this as an opportunity to invite his mistress for her birthday. When his best friend calls to say that he has returned from Hong Kong, the husband decides to use the best friend as the raison d’etre for the appearance of a strange woman in the house. All set up, he contacts an agency to have them send a Cordon Bleu chef (a woman, of course) to make sure they don’t all starve to death. The best friend is actually the wife’s lover so when she finds out her paramour is coming to visit, she cancels the trip to her mother’s house ... oh, yes, both the girlfriend and the cook have the same name. You get the picture!
Zane Pumiglia is highly skilled as the philandering husband. He showed great powers of manipulation and the agony of defeat. Ken Yakiwchuk, who played his cuckolding best friend, is excellent in the role, with good looks, slick lingual manipulation and a frantic sort of angst when faced with the possibility of discovery.
The faithless wife is played by Gerry Martilla Robertson. Her experience on the stage is apparent in her easy movement and convincing (sometimes silly) dialogue. The mistress is beautifully portrayed by Randi Watson. Watson is quick – quick on her feet and quick in her brain. She utilizes a particularly incredulous sarcasm in this role that brings her character to life.
Paul Dupont, who doesn’t appear until the end of the story, is big and blustery and certainly filled the stage with his personality.
As good as the entire cast is, the play really belongs to LLT veteran Georgette Richmond. Her forte is comedy and her timing sublime. Richmond really outplayed herself in a role (as the Cordon Bleu cook) that could have been written just for her.
All in all, this production was a great success. To pull off a farce is not an easy thing. It triumphed.
A huge team brought this production to life. They were: Gerry Tredway as producer, Trish Conner as stage manager and Bob Coull as set designer and construction chief. (His crew consisted of Alex Pinkerton, David White, Dale Hetler, Harry and Darlene Lockey and Richard Bansback.) Set decoration coordinator was Betty Parker and accomplished by Barbara Whiliden, Jeanne Tulloch, Jim Parker, Kathy Jones and Roberta Hilleman. Emma Bergh-Apton designed the sound and Ana Ward operated it. Sheilah Dwyer operated the lights that were designed by Jerry Hathaway and Zane Pumiglia. Gale Bildfell was the properties manager with help from Martha Aceves. Doreen Chaloner was the make-up coordinator and Maxcine Tate and Roberta Hilleman worked with the make up. Lois Cugini was in charge of the wardrobe and Pat Linfoot was the seamstress and dresser. Other dressers included Catherine Huff, Elliott Joachim and Wendy Hamblin.
Congratulations to everyone involved with this very successful production!
Next up for LLT is Ronald Harwood’s wartime drama, “The Dresser,” directed by Larry King, running from January 16 to January 24.
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