While traditional farces deal mainly with middle-age or older characters, “Don’t Dress for Dinner” features the comic goings-on of a younger cast, forming a tangled web of lies involving mistaken identities and scandalous secrets.
Robin Hawdon’s adaptation of this charade from 1991 is a comedy about a married couple who are both involved with other people, or at least they think they are, and is set during a weekend getaway in a French country house. Director Ed. Simone, Ph.D., professor of theater, hints, “Things go terribly wrong ... in a terribly funny way.”
Emily West, a junior theater and journalism and mass communication dual major, acted as the play’s set dresser, designing the aesthetics of the set and the color palette for the production.
“Our goals were to create a space that blended rustic countryside charm with upscale sophisticated style and taste,” said Rebecca Misenheimer, assistant professor of theater. “While it’s a modern play, it’s a completely different cross-section of society than we’re used to.”