farce opens the new season of Jabulani Repertory Theatre at The Princess Hotel in Hamilton on Thursday.

`Don't Dress for Dinner', by Marc Camoletti, is still running to sold-out houses at London's Apollo Theatre where it opened in 1991.

Now Bermuda will have the chance to see the smash-hit comedy described by The Sunday Times as "a nifty piece of farce about double adultery and gourmet cooking''.

Directed by Patricia Pogson and produced by Dusty Hind, this opening production, set in a stylish converted French farmhouse, and "full of belly laughs'' should appeal to locals and tourists alike.

Taking the leading roles are Paul Matthews, Tricia Morgan and Arthur Lugo, with Carol Birch, Marina Brown and Mark Pettingill in supporting roles. As Mr.

Matthews points out, "It is classic farce with marital treachery, coincidence, embarrassment, mistaken identities, all exaggerated in the way that makes farce a fine art!'' Following Jabulani's successful season of cocktail theatre staged last winter, `Don't Dress for Dinner' is the first of four new theatrical entertainments to be staged in rotation in the Princess' Gazebo Lounge each weekend until April 1. Other productions are the 1920s black vaudeville show, `One Mo' Time', the `heavenly musical comedy' of `Nunsense' and the classic comedy thriller, `Sleuth'.

The staging of `Don't Dress for Dinner' marks yet another departure for director Patricia Pogson -- in some ways, a continuation of how she broke local theatrical boundaries with her multi-racial production of `Six Degrees of Separation' two years ago. Mr. Matthews, who was in that play, says, "That was her first real venture outside the Black Box Theatre here. `Don't Dress for Dinner' also represents something entirely new for her, because farce, with its split-second timing and rapid dialogue, is quite different from normal comedy.'' The whole cast, he says, are thoroughly enjoying the experience of working with her.

"I was very involved behind the scenes with Jabulani last year, and very impressed with the way that Pat works. She is an excellent director and developing all the time. She is a very generous director who appreciates that the performers often bring something new and fresh and she's always willing to listen, or try out a suggestion.'' Mr. Matthews, who has had leading roles in such productions as `An Actor's Nightmare', `The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy', `Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead', and most recently, the Bishop in the musical of `Joan of Arc', says that he is also happy to be `partnered' again with Tricia Morgan, with whom he last appeared in `The Boy Friend'.

She, in turn, is excited at the prospect of having a leading role in a farce.

With her blonde good looks, she is only too aware that it is usually her fate to be cast as the beautiful Princess -- as she indeed was, in `Sinbad', and in the title role of `Cinderella'.

In fact the Montessori-trained teacher, before she came to Bermuda 14 years ago, was named the North West of England's Most Promising Actress three years in a row, and besides many acting roles here, she has also directed plays for Amnesty International and the BMDS Youth Group.

"I'm really enjoying this -- although it's very hard work! The lines were difficult to learn because the pace is very, very fast. Yes, we do take our clothes off but the plot is extremely intricate. It's a great play for cocktail theatre because it's also very visual -- we are in and out of negligees! We could make or break the show, depending on what we look like on the day,'' she jokes.

One of the qualities that drew Tricia Morgan to Ms Pogson was the immediate sense that she does not indulge in type-casting.

"I hadn't seen the audition notice, but Paul persuaded me to go along, and Pat gave me the part. It is such a privilege to work with her. She is so full of affection and although she is a very strong director, she nurtures her actors. I feel a great freedom, working with her. She has this great talent, but she has never done English farce before, so in a way, we are learning together, and that's a good feeling.'' Both actors also pay tribute to the way in which their director gets to know, on a deeply personal basis, everyone she works with -- including the backstage crew.

Says Mr. Matthews, "Jabulani has managed to bring together a group of people, actors, designers, technical people, and so on, and I think we all feel this kind of excitement that we are in the process of establishing a good repertory theatre here.'' An acknowledged professional who has just become involved in Jabulani is Arthur Lugo who takes on the role of Bernard: he it is who sets the `tangled web' of deceit and intrigue on its hilarious way when he decides to lure his Parisian mistress on an illicit weekend at his country home.

Mr. Lugo made an unforgettable impression in this year's Bermuda Festival production of `Richard III' -- as well he might: this Bermudian actor, who has been away from his homeland for more than a decade, graduated from the famed Guildhall School of Drama and worked for three "wonderful'' years in the British theatre and BBC television.

"I got involved in local theatre as a child, but my first big thing here was a tragedy -- I played the role of the village idiot in `Gallileo'.'' While in London with `Up With People' in 1973, he auditioned, and was accepted at the Guildhall, and worked regularly after graduation, notably in the national tour of `Cats' and on BBC TV with Michael Horden and Anthony Sher in `The History Man'.

He reveals that he in fact worked with Patricia Pogson back in the '70s. "I heard about her success when I got back and thought it would be terrific to work with her.

And it is!'' `Don't Dress for Dinner' opens this week, Thursday, November 3 through November 5, and the three-night run will be repeated once a month through the end of March.

Other attractions will include the vaudeville show, `One Mo' Time', which opens on November 10, the comedy thriller, `Deathtrap', opening on November 17 and the musical comedy, `Nunsense', on November 24.

Tickets at $20 are available in advance and doors open at 8.45 p.m. with full bar service available. A dinner show package is also available which includes a four course dinner in Harley's or the Colony Pub Steakhouse and admission to the shows. For reservations, telephone 295-3000.

DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER -- The cast of the Jabulani Repertory Company's farce, `Don't Dress for Dinner', which opens at The Princess Hotel in Hamilton on Thursday evening. Pictured (back row, left to right) are Paul Matthews, Mark Pettingill, Carol Birch, Marina Brown and (front row) Tricia Morgan and Arthur Lugo.