DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER was first a smash hit in Paris and then later London’s longest running comedy ever. Set in a stylishly converted French farm building, Bernard hopes to entertain his chic mistress while his wife Jacqueline visits her mother. He has hired a cook for the evening and even invited along his best friend, Robert, as a suitable alibi. Perfect planning, or so he thinks. Supposing the wife and Robert are secret lovers and she decides to stay home after learning he is about to arrive? And what if the cook and the mistress, whose names are confusingly similar (Suzette and Suzanne), are mistaken for each other and have to exchange roles for the evening? Add to that the unexpected appearance of a jealous husband, and you have the recipe for an hilarious evening.

Marc Camoletti’s DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER, under the original title PAJAMAS POUR SIX, opened in Paris in 1987 and ran for over two years. Robert Hawdon’s adaptation of this French original premiered in London in 1991 and ran for six years. It has all the earmarks of the classic French farce: marital infidelity, misunderstandings and mistaken identities among the upper-class. It is a must for anyone looking for a fun evening out.