WITH the original French farce Once Bitten, Rubery Drama Group promised dropped trousers, double entendres, mistresses causing trouble and a tyrannical mother-in-law and the show did not disappoint.
The play, directed brilliantly by Ian Ring, was set in Paris and centred around two hapless lawyers.
Thanks to some great acting and perfect timing, there was plenty of hilarity throughout a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
The first half of the show outlined the plot well, saw the crowd lovingly take the two lawyers into their hearts, willing them to win, despite their rather questionable actions and set up the frantic finale.
In the second half, the double entendres kept coming, having the audience in fits of laughter, as did some fantastic visual gags.
Among those were the moment where De Bagnolles (Sean Sawyer) was on top of a stricken Cesarine, trying to help her over her distressing episode and the scenes with the poodle which later became a deceased, and thought-to-be rabid, dog – they were equally as funny, if not more so.
There were plenty of strong portrayals on the night, including Caroline Stevens as stern mother-in-law Madame Laiguiser who would have undoubtedly been booed had it been panto, Ian Kimberley-Ryan as lovable, but hopeless, Tardivaut and Julie Edwards as the seductive and manipulative Cesarine.
But the two stand-out performances went to Roy Watton as Fauvinard and George Cochrane as the rather sleepy Gatinet.
Watton had the audience in the palm of his hand as his situation got more and more complicated and the penultimate scene where he tried to convince Madame De Bagnoles not to take her husband to court – with said hubby behind a chair and mother-in-law listening from behind a door – was just brilliant.
There was a certain electricity whenever the stuttering, forgetful and waffling Cochrane entered the fray which the character could have done with to wake him up every time he sat down.
The chemistry and interaction between the characters made this a fabulous farce – with lawyers, liars, lovers and lots of laugh out loud moments.
