Plaza Suite

Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin Jul 15-30 8pm €25/€20 (Sat mat 3pm €18) paviliontheatre.ie 01-2312929

The staff of New York’s Plaza Hotel, witnesses to more than a century of pampered drama, know the absolute importance of discretion. But are the three acts of Neil Simon’s 1968 play meant to be discrete?

Each takes place in suite 719, where three successive couples find themelves in distinctly prickly situations: a suburban couple in a tattered marriage realise that this was their honeymoon suite 23 – or was it 24? – years ago; a film producer, currently between marriages, calls up his childhood sweetheart with entirely dishonourable intentions; and a married couple are busy trying to persuade their daughter to “come out of that bathroom and get married!”

The original production aimed for a playful continuity, where Mike Nichols directed George C Scott and Maureen Stapleton as all three couples, a theatrical fillip repeated with Walter Matthau for the film version. Rough Magic’s production, however, has gone for a division of labour, casting different actors (including Darragh Kelly, Ali White, Karen Ardiff, Mark Lambert, Eleanor Methven and Nick Dunning), while assigning each act a separate director. Sophie Motley, Aoife Spillane-Hinks and Matt Torney were formerly mentored by the company’s Seeds programme, which suggests a professional through line.

When it comes to the craftsmanship of Simon’s location-based farce, there may be more than one way to offer the best room service.

Can’t See That? Catch This

Ergophobia The New Theatre, Dublin