This farce by the masterful Georges Feydeau is pretty thin stuff.

Very few doors are slammed, there is only one mistaken identity and there is only one dishevelled parlour maid.

On the other hand, there are a lot of words, most of them shouted or certainly over-emphasised, while others, at times, are swallowed and the chuckles are few and belly laughs fewer.

Which is rather a shame. Especially given the casting of David Warner, Nicholas Le Prevost and Elaine Paige - and Sir Peter Hall in the director's chair.

The fault lies in the new translation by Nick Frei and in the thin plot itself which must be laid at Feydeau's door.

The translation is modern and pretty free and really doesn't suit the dress of the show which is Victorian or maybe just Edwardian.

The tale concerns politician Ribadier (Le Prevost), second husband of Angela (Paige). He has a mistress in the shape of a wine merchant's wife.

But our Angela is wise to men's ways. Her first husband, now dead, left among his things a catalogue of all the excuses he used to conceal his infidelities. Angela is extremely well aware of what men do and regards her husband with fervent suspicion.

Into this marriage comes Thommereux, (Warner) an old friend of Madame's first husband, who has returned from the Far East service to marry, as he thinks, a widow.

What follows is the playing out of Thommereux's ambitions, the sorting out of Robardier's affair de coeur and the resolution of every problem to everyone's satisfaction.

The cast make a great stab at this flimsy piece of entertainment and, on a certain level, it works as a fluffy and trivial comedy on a warmish summer evening. The problem I found was I just could not identify with any of the characters.

Neither David Warner nor Nicholas Le Prevost were at all convincing as men who could let themselves go long enough even to contemplate a fling, let alone have one.

Paige, who is used to singing as opposed to acting, is certainly comely but the script did not do her any favours.

For tickets, call: 01273 328488.