Play of the Week: Sauce for the Goose, Orange Tree, Richmond

Farce – with its panic-propelled exits and entrances – should not work in the round. But at the Orange Tree, which has a rich festive tradition of staging the works of Feydeau, they make mincemeat of that notion.
The actors mime the frantic openings and closings, while a stage manager provides the sound effects. It's a deliciously rum procedure and it compounds your pleasure at the escalating mayhem in this blissfully funny Feydeau revival by Sam Walters. The original title is "Le Dindon" ("the turkey") and the fowl play arises from foiled philandering.
The piece is nicely renamed in Peter Meyer's translation to indicate how this is also a story of female revenge against the sexual double standard. Portrayed with captivating wit by Beth Cordingly, Lucienne is a happily married woman who will only succumb to infidelity if presented with proof that her husband has been unfaithful. Walters and his crack cast expertly pace the ensuing lunacy. A treat.
(020 8940 3633; orangetreetheatre.co.uk) to 2 Feb
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