LE DINER DE CONS by Francis Veber, directed by Guy Mignault (Théâtre Français de Toronto). At Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley). To May 9. $29-$46, stu/srs $24-$32. 416-534-6604. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Francis Veber’s hit comedy Le Dîner De Cons mixes belly laughs with a sharp look at human nature.
[rssbreak]
Pierre (Paul Essiembre) belongs to a supper club whose members invite as guests the biggest fools they can find and have a laugh at their expense. The nasty concept upsets Pierre’s wife, Christine (Marianne Lambert), but that doesn’t stop him from having a test run with François (Pierre Simpson), an Internal Revenue employee touted as a prize idiot.
But Pierre throws his back out just before his gull arrives, and François tries to make things right when Christine leaves a telephone message saying she’s leaving her husband. François’s efforts only get Pierre in deeper and deeper comic shit.
I don’t speak French, but the English surtitles (May 1, 6 and 9) capture the work’s humour nicely.
While the others in the cast contribute to the comedy under Guy Mignault’s direction, it’s Simpson and Essiembre who give the laughs their flavour.
Essiembre makes a prime foil, reacting in pained and sometimes extravagant fashion to the mess he keeps sinking in. Simpson’s well-timed performance is a gem his François, fixated on building matchstick models, blends shyness, passion and nerdiness into a believable, well-intentioned character. We both laugh at and feel for this guy who finally gets the joke, doesn’t find it very funny and makes us question who’s the bigger fool, François or Pierre.
