A Flea in Her Ear

Raymonde gets an inkling that her husband Victor Emanuel is having an affair, so she enlists the help of her best friend Lucienne to catch him, pants down at the – ahem – Snatch Time Hotel. But a series of mistaken identities conspire with a range of amorous entanglements, and a milieu of chaos ensues. Georges Feydeau’s 1907 French farce, A Flea in Her Ear, gets an update by Andrew Upton and rounds off a stellar year for the Sydney Theatre Company.

Set in a thoroughly Belle Époque world and embracing the fun of it, is Helen Christinson who plays the scheming best friend, Lucienne.

“It’s a glorious cast of very, very, very funny people,” said Christinson. “The show is like a whirlwind that starts as a gust and then builds, and builds, and builds until it becomes a crazy gale-force madness.”

Although the STC creative team dabbled with the idea of a completely modern adaptation, the classical bones of farce remain.

“Although Andrew [Upton] has made the language more identifiable as of our time, it still retains all the lovely rhythms we love about farce and comedy,” said Christinson.

Then there is the elaborate otherworldliness of a French period piece: “It still has the feel of that era and you have all these incredibly, glorious costumes to look at… I have a pretty great frock, so I’m pretty pleased about the whole thing.”

Demanding for its technical, almost ‘Rubik’s Cube-like’ precision, Christinson is enjoying the challenge: “It’s a big ensemble with lots of people coming and going – there are a lot of doors – you have to really focus and be present in every minute.” (GW)

Oct 31–Dec 17, varied performance times. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. $76-$104. Tickets & info: www.sydneytheatre.com.au or (02) 9250 1777