‘Dress’ Delights as It Irons Love’s Wrinkles

The “boulevard comedy” is a staple of Parisian night life. The term is a euphemism for a sex farce, although in reality, while there is a lot of talk about sexual relationships, nothing untoward happens. It is fast and furious and innocent.

Marc Camoletti’s boulevard comedy “Pyjamas Pour Six,” was an immense success in Paris, and adapted into English by Robin Hawdon as “Don’t Dress for Dinner,” it ran to standing-room audiences for a year in London. It has settled in at the Long Beach Playhouse’s Mainstage with a big grin on its face, in a lively and entertaining staging by director Gregory Cohen.

In his remodeled farmhouse just outside Paris, Bernard has invited his new mistress, Suzanne, to spend the weekend, and sent his wife, Jacqueline, off to her mother’s. He’s invited his best friend, Robert, to come along as an alibi and has hired a Cordon Bleu cook named Suzette to prepare their dinner.

At the last minute, Jacqueline discovers that Robert is arriving, and decides to stay home, because--unknown to her husband--Robert is her lover. Bernard has to make immediate arrangements to deceive his wife. Robert is goaded into pretending that Suzanne is his mistress but instead thinks the cook Suzette is Suzanne, and suddenly everything becomes cheerily complicated. The fun is in watching these chic Parisians untie the massive knots they have tied around themselves.

Cohen lets the action flow like champagne, bubbly and fast, and also makes sure that it all makes sense. His staging is visually interesting, and the rhythms within scenes are varied enough to be real and honest.

The actors are all good and keep the dovetailing action moving beautifully. What they sometimes forget is to play the comedy absolutely straight. At moments, they add unrealistic comic movements and, in a couple of cases, to engage in mugging that reduces the laughs they might have generated.

Paul Gafner, as Bernard, is most guilty of this, but his precise comic timing usually makes up for it. Gafner might lighten his panic early on for better comic effect, but he knows how to deliver a line and has developed a rounded character. In the role of the beleaguered Robert, Bill Peters is less guilty of making faces and is proportionately more funny.

Although Lee Anne Moore slightly overdoes her cook Suzette, who has to pretend she’s the actress-model of Bernard’s affection, she never crosses the line into indulgence and has some very funny moments. So does Lina El-Hayek as the very chic Suzanne, who has to pretend to be the cook.

Making the sparkling dialogue work best is Kathleen Chapin as Jacqueline, a role that could be thankless, but Chapin’s restraint and realism work to her advantage.

The right style for this type of theater is best expressed by Chapin and by Gino England as Suzette’s chef-husband, whose laid-back manner is Gallic to the core and should be a model for the rest of the cast.

* “Don’t Dress for Dinner,” Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. matinee on May 2. Ends May 15. $12-$15. (562) 494-1616.

Paul Gafner: Bernard

Kathleen Chapin: Jacqueline

Bill Peters: Robert

Lee Anne Moore: Suzette

Lina El-Hayek: Suzanne

Gino England: George

A Long Beach Playhouse production of Marc Camoletti’s comedy, adapted by Robin Hawdon. Directed by Gregory Cohen. Scenic design: Linda Garen Smith. Lighting design: Bruce Fleming. Technical director: Rand Hudson. Sound design: Ron Wyand. Costume design: Donna Fritsche. Assistant director-stage manager: Gino England.