Repertory Company -- The Princess Hotel Gazebo Lounge -- Various dates to April 13 "Marvellous! Panic over!'' one of the characters in the Jabulani production of "Move Over Mrs. Markham'' declares about halfway through the second act.

But boy is she wrong.

The "panic,'' as the gleefully adulterous Linda Lodge describes the non-stop comic mayhem that infuses this traditional British sex farce, has yet to reach its madcap crescendo at that point, nor has that walking sight-gag Annette Hallett (wonderfully playing a veddy uptight children's authoress) even made her appearance in the action.

With her beautifully expressive body language and excellent comic timing, Ms Hallett, for those of you who haven't had the good fortune to see her perform, need only walk onto a stage in most cases to elicit titters. In this production, she is her usual riotous self, functioning in her role of Olive Harriet Smythe, the dog-crazy author of the fictional "Bow Wow'' books, as a perfectly schoolmarmish counterpoint to the ribald shenanigans around her.

To be sure, those shenanigans, which include an untold number of comic misunderstandings, cases of mistaken identity and sex-charged double entendres, are fairly old hat to any habitue of the theatre, particularly dinner theatre.

And indeed the play, which was written in typical sex-farce tradition by Ray Cooney and John Chapman, does seem, with its outdated caricatures of homosexuality and its affably condescending treatment of foreigners, more than a little antiquated.

But who cares, ultimately, if the characterisation in "Mrs. Markham'' is confused and confusing at times -- why, for instance, is the girl-crazy interior designer (fabulously and redeemingly played by Phillip Jones) so inexplicably effete? -- or the whole affair is really nothing more than an elevated theatrical version of "Three's Company.'' It's all, as they say, in the telling, and this telling, with its admittedly literate dialogue and its uniformly fine cast, will win even the most jaded of theatre-goers over.

Largely responsible, of course, for this en masse seduction are the aforementioned Ms Hallett and Mr. Jones, who are probably two of the finest physical comedians in Bermudian theatre today.

In addition to the former's expertly delivered cameo performance -- as with most first-rate talents, there are no roles that are too small for Ms Hallett -- viewers of one of the opening performances of "Move Over Mrs. Markham'' last weekend were also treated by Mr. Jones to a hilarious striptease-Tarzan imitation that literally had him bouncing off the walls.

Among the other leading players, Carol and Ian Birch (a real-life husband-and-wife pair of very subtle and progressively effective zanies) form a solid and appealing foundation for the play as the eponymous Markhams, while Helen Coffey and Thomas Saunders (a frequently-partnered fictional couple who are reunited here after a turn as marrieds in the recent and notoriously dreadful BMDS production of "A Chorus of Disapproval'' -- they were, in fact, among the few enjoyable aspects of that mess) dive into their roles of the flippantly philandering Lodges with appropriate comedic relish.

Ms Coffey, in particular, is a shrewd and vixenish comedienne, her eyes seeming constantly ablaze with naughty intentions, a mischievous grin (half-sneer?) forever on her lips.

In terms, moreover, of supporting roles, Delaey Robinson stands out marvellously with his delightful and wonderfully incongruous performance as Mrs. Lodge's suitor, an exceedingly polite but sexually opportunistic dandy whose dreadlocks are stuffed under a bowler hat and whose libido seems to overshadow his own sense of personal danger.

Considering, too, the pre-opening night reports of imminent cast mutinies and an overworked director (Pat Pogson was reportedly given a last-minute hand by Richard Fell, apparently to good result), the fact that such performances were delivered -- and the overall effort was as enjoyable as it was -- is a testament to the dedication of everyone involved, and nothing short of a miracle.

"Darling! Darling! Disaster!'' the lecherous Mrs. Lodge, faced with possible discovery, alternately declares at another point in the onstage proceedings.

Disaster? Not this time for the Jabulani troupe -- and certainly not for the audience.

DANNY SINOPOLI "Move Over Mrs. Markham,'' one of four plays that the Jabulani company is staging at the Princess this winter, will run alternately with the others in three-night groupings. The remaining dates for "Mrs. Markham'' are November 30, December 1 and 2; January 18, 19 and 20; February 15, 16 and 17; March 14, 15 and 16 and April 11, 12 and 13.