The secret affair

Scandalous affairs mixed with love, confusion and a whole lot of laughter is what Don’t Dress For Dinner is all about. Revolving around the four protagonists — Bernard is planning a romantic weekend for himself and his chic Parisian mistress in his farmhouse, while his wife Jacqueline is away, Bernard takes his best friend Robert along to provide an alibi. One would think nothing can go wrong with this foolproof plan, but when the affair between Robert and Jacqueline is unearthed, all hell breaks loose! The two-act play by French playwright Marc Camoletti, directed by Anantharaman Karthik and produced by theatre group Ensomneacks is a laugh riot in an evening of complete confusion.

“While reading DDFD, we enjoyed the play so much and thought it would be a good watch for the audience as well. Plus it has been received well by audiences abroad and we wanted to test it out on our audience,” says Karthik, about what appealed to him the most about the play. “Though the issues are quite serious, they are tactfully dealt with in a humorous way, so it doesn’t get too heavy for the audience. And people love to laugh, so I think it’s the perfect pick,” adds the director who has been a part of the industry as actor and director, for almost a decade! According to Karthik, his role as director wasn’t as challenging as the actors! “To keep the audience engaged and interested, I think the actors have it harder as their expressions and dialogues have to be on point,” says the man of few words, rather modestly.

While it was all about the engaging script for Karthik, the fact that the play appealed to the mass audience was the selling point for Vikram Dhanasekar, who plays the role of Robert. “As soon as I read Robert’s lines, I knew I wanted to play this character. His dialogues are so much fun because he is the cause of all the confusion and the one who sorts everything out in the end. It was also a massive challenge because the dialogue delivery is as important as everything else,” shares Vikram, who also doubles as the producer of the show. And what should the audience come prepared for, we want to know. “I think people should come prepared for a good 110 minutes of confusion mixed with laughter. And go back with the message that it is never a good idea to have an affair with your best friend’s wife!,” he smirks in conclusion.  

— The play will be staged at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore on April 9, at 4 pm and 7 pm.