Don’t Dress For Dinner

Getting a drenching for Dinner

Wythall Theatre Company chairman Mike Beamish will probably be glad when the group has finished rehearsing for Don't Dress for Dinner - because he gets drenched four times at each rehearsal and there have been up to three rehearsals a week in the run-up to the show at the Palace Theatre, Redditch.

It's all the fault of Paul Hughes, who is directing the Marc Camelotti farce - as far as I am concerned, the funniest farce I have ever seen.

Paul thought Mike ought to get used to being squirted by a soda syphon, having a drink thrown over him and other inconveniences such as being dunked in a bowl of sauce, so it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to him on opening night.

The result, as Estelle Shutkever, for the group, says is that he is probably the only society member who turns up at every rehearsal with four changes of shirt.

The show opens on Wednesday, November 12 and runs for four nights.

Unknown, Evening Mail 31 October 2003

Don't Dress for Dinner

A sumptuous offering was served up by Wythall Theatre Company's production of this Marc Camelotti farce.

The play begins when Bernard, played by Mike Beamish with great aplomb, decides to make the most of his wife's weekend away at her mother's by inviting his mistress Suzanne, played by the glamorous Joy Rogers, to spend some time with him. He also invites his best man Robert to provide the perfect alibi.

Unknown to Bernard, wife Jacqueline, played brilliantly by Sue Lister, takes a phone call and finds out that Robert is on his way. Also unknown to Bernard, his wife has her own reasons for wanting to be around Robert.

Then the cook arrives and bedlam ensures. There are mistaken identities galore, playacting by the plateful and tongue-twisting explanations in this hilarious and fast-paced tale.

Adam Lee who took on the role of Robert was outstanding and Suzette the cook was an absolute scram. Played by Abbey Stonehall, her sense of comic timing was superb and every time she came onto the stage the audience knew they were in for a treat.

The whole production was superb, well directed by Paul Hughes with assistant Anne Cherry. I really cannot praise it highly enough, it really is amateur dramatics at its very best.

Next time Wythall Theatre Company put on a production, I urge you to give them a try.

Linda Morrison, Redditch Advertiser October 2003

Don't Dress for Dinner

Director Paul Hughes reveals in the programme notes that directing the production was a 'trial by ordeal'. He does not elaborate, but whatever went on he has nothing to worry about where the outcome is concerned.

It's not only all right on the night - it's marvellous.

Marc Camelotti's cleverly devised comedy is a winner all the way as a couple’s adulterous plans go haywire with a never-ending series of cover-ups and mistaken identities. Just when the merry-go-round appears to be coming to an end another round starts.

Adam Lee, Mike Beamish, Sue Lister, Abby Stonehall and Joy Rodgers are all on top form with this crisp delivery and aggressively funny characters. Lee in particular, deserved a special round of applause for handling a lengthy and complicated explanation so smoothly. Hughes should be laughing all the way to closing night tomorrow.

Peter Swingler, Local Paper October 2003

All the fun of the farce

Wythall Theatre Company presents a feast of farcical fun at the Palace Theatre next week. The company has battled with rogue soda siphons, learning to tango and trying to keep us with the William Tell Overture to stage Don't Dress for Dinner.

The Marc Camolletti farce, which runs from Wednesday to Saturday, November 12-15, draws the audience into a web of marital treachery.

In a stylishly converted French farmhouse, Bernard is hoping to entertain his chic, Parisian mistress Suzy for the weekend.

He has arranged for a cordon bleu chef to furnish the gourmet delights, is in the process of packing his wife, Jacqueline, off to her mother and has even invited along his best friend Robert as a suitable alibi.

A theatre spokesman said: "It's foolproof, what could go wrong?"

'Well supposing Robert turns up without knowing why he's been invited or Robert and Jacqueline have more than a passing interest in each other?'

'Or how about the cook being mistaken for the mistress, who can't cook, having to prepare a four course dinner?'

'Mix all the ingredients together and you have the perfect recipe for an evening of hilarious confusion!'

Unknown, Local Paper October 2003