Remember that old saying that goes something like, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive." In the case of Marc Camoletti's play "Don't Dress For Dinner," the web of lies is one audience members don't mind getting caught up in.
Lawrence Community Theatre's production of the 2 1/2-hour farce is quick-paced and laugh-filled. Director Jeanne Chinn and the six-member ensemble have mined the comic nuggets in Camoletti's dialogue-heavy script about mistaken identities and confused alibis and found pure gold.
The story line is simple going into the play: Bernard (Jon Hobble) and his mistress, Suzy (Sally Bremenkamp), plan a rendezvous at his home when his wife, Jacqueline (Peg Sampson), is out of town visiting her mother. Bernard's best friend, Robert (Marion Constantinescu), has been invited for the weekend to serve as his alibi. But then Jacqueline decides to stay home, and the lie-telling escalates.
Unsuspected liaisons are revealed, and one fib breeds another. Suzette (Tina Connolly), a cordon bleu cook hired to prepare a meal for the lovebirds, ends up pretending to be several characters to cover up everyone else's lies well, until her husband, George (Mario Bonilla), shows up and the stories start to unravel.
The actors work well together onstage, helping each other out when one of them stumbles over a line and feeding off each other's energy. They obviously have worked together before, and their level of trust and comfortableness is evident.
The scenic design is static all of the action takes place in the living room of a country house near London. But that's not to take away from the realistic and beautifully painted design by Jack Riegle and the subtle lighting by Jill Troupe and their crews.
The only blemish of the show is the waxing and waning of the cast's British accents, with the exception of Connolly, who does a cockney accent that would make Eliza Doolittle take notice.
"Don't Dress for Dinner" continues at 2:30 p.m. Sundays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 8 p.m Fridays and Saturdays through Feb. 3. This is a show that will knock you out of your winter doldrums and put a little spring in your step.
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