Tabard Theatre 29 March – 23 April. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
Sacha Bush’s new translation of Feydeau’s classic farce is a whirlwind of madcap laughs and lunacy. The opening number – Flight of the Conchords “Foux du Fafa” meets Sondheim – sets the ludicrous tone for the evening and the wonderful nonsense that follows.
Parisian lady Raymonde thinks that her husband Victor is having an affair so, with the help of Lucienne, she sets up a honey trap to lure him to the Frisky Puss hotel and catch him in the act. Victor, however thinks that the letter must be for his friend Tournel and sends him instead. Doppelgangers, spinning beds and a hot headed Spanish husband combine to create a gloriously daft second act.
The fantastic cast are hysterical in their roles, Jamie Birkett is a very unsettling Dr Finache, and the moustache gimmick is a triumph. Rachel Dawson’s Lucienne is straight out of Chelsea and as Raymonde, Haley Catherine’s little tantrums are delightful. Dominic Brewer does befuddled brilliantly as Victor and Poche, Clark James’ Carlos is a superbly OTT Spanish stereotype, and Richard Watkins nearly dislocates his jaw as sweet Camille, and is wonderfully slimy as the hotelier dishing out cartoon beatings like the lovechild of Fawlty and Walliams.
The set and lighting design is cleverly cheesy, and fits the show perfectly. The use of lighting and music to highlight certain characters didn’t lose its novelty. The strobe lighting effects during the “action” sequences is great, adding a Keystone cops feel to the evening.
The pace of Alex Sutton’s production is frenetic and sometimes chaotic, with the cast sharing the roles of the remaining characters, depending on which major character is already on stage. The cast’s reactions to technical mishaps – flying moustaches, broken knobs and a jammed door – were brilliantly in character. Even after lots of drilling and banging in the interval, that door wouldn’t open! But the feeling that the production is teetering on the knife-edge of disaster just makes this show even funnier.
If you are looking for an evening of escapism and laughter, then this is the show for you.