Not Now, Darling by Ray Cooney and John Chapman
Directed by Tim Booth
The scene is the exclusive London fur salon of Bodley and Crouch, where Crouch (the well-meaning innocent) struggles to keep things on an even keel despite the energetic philandering of his partner. At the moment, Bodley is trying to secure the affections of his latest would-be mistress by “selling” her husband an expensive mink fur coat for a fraction of its real worth, and the stammering Crouch is saddled with the task of consummating the sale with a straight face. But, as luck would have it, the husband seizes the bargain coat as the perfect gift for his own mistress-whereupon the complications burgeon uproariously, with poor Crouch caught in the middle. Suspicious wives, mistaken identities, scantily clad girls clapped hurriedly into closets and a continuous barrage of rapid fire jokes all become part of the hilarious doings, as the action of the play bubbles along merrily right up to the final curtain when, miraculously and to the great relief of all concerned, everything somehow manages to work out as it should.
