Apple Hill Players planning risque, romantic romp on Trafford stage

“Don’t Dress for Dinner” is a complicated play, but the Apple Hill Players don’t want audiences to think too deeply about it.

The theater troupe will stage the madcap farce, replete with romantic hi-jinks and mistaken identities, from April 22-30 in the Trafford Performing Arts Center.

“I think audiences have so much on their minds right now and there is so much going on in the world, they simply want to come be entertained without having to think about things for a while,” said director Pam Farneth of New Kensington. “They want to just laugh without analyzing all the ins and outs of the show.

“I think a farce does that.”

“Don’t Dress for Dinner” is adapted from “Pyjama Pour Six,” a two-act play by French playwright Marc Camoletti, who also wrote the Tony Award-winning farce, “Boeing-Boeing.” It had a brief Broadway run in 2012.

The plot line finds Bernard planning a romantic country weekend with his chic Parisian mistress while his wife, Jacqueline, is away. He arranges for a chef to prepare gourmet meals and invites his best friend, Robert, along to provide an alibi.

But Jacqueline and Robert have secrets of their own, and the chef gets caught in the middle of the subterfuge.

Courtesy of Pam Farneth

Becky Hukill as Jaqueline and Michael Byrne as Robert rehearse for the Apple Hill Players’ production of “Don’t Dress for Dinner.”

“I think every farce has mistaken identities, mistresses, unexpected guests, and everything is never really what it seems,” Farneth said. “Farce is written so that audiences don’t really think too much about immoral or moral, because everything is happening so fast, there’s so much mistaken identity and unexpected guests that the audience member is just laughing out loud through all of it.

“In the end, generally speaking, with most farce — this one included — things turn out the way they’re supposed to turn out. Everybody is usually happy in the end,” she said.

Great chemistry

Justin Mohr plays Bernard and Michael Byrne is Robert.

“These two men have great chemistry together,” said Farneth, noting that the pair have acted together in other productions. “They trust each other on stage, and the bantering and facial expressions between the two of them are hilarious.”

Becky Hukill plays Jacqueline. Elisabeth Firment Brendlinger plays the mistress, Suzanne. Kaitlin Marie Cliber plays Suzette the chef, and Matt Mlynarski plays George, her husband.

“It’s been a joy to work with all of them,” Farneth said. “When we are rehearsing, we are always cracking each other up, because they are just so funny on stage.”

Stage manager is Rebekah Little.

While farce is great fun, Farneth said, it’s also challenging for a director.

“People think dramas are difficult but, with a farce, comic timing is everything,” she said. “You know that old saying, ‘go big or go home’ — that’s exactly what you have to do when presenting a farce.

“The actor is performing over the top, and he takes the audience right along with him for the ride,” she said. “Timing, timing, timing is the biggest challenge; so we work on delivery and the timing, and then do it again.”

“Don’t Dress for Dinner” is Farneth’s sixth foray into directing, her second time with a farce. She’s usually on stage as an actor.

“I consider myself the queen of farce. I love the challenge of comic timing and playing to the audience,” she said, noting that a director once likened her to Lucille Ball. “I thought that was one of the greatest compliments anyone has ever said about me.

“Anyone that knows me knows I put my full heart and soul into everything I do on and off the stage.”

Curtain time for “Don’t Dress for Dinner” will be 7:30 p.m. April 22-23 and 28-30 and 2 p.m. April 24 at the theater, 235 Cavitt Ave. Tickets are $20, or $15 for the April 24 performance.

For information and reservations, visit applehillplayers.org.