The funniest thing I've seen in a theatre for ages.

Who would have thought a tale of Spanish womaniser, delivered in French accents, could be such a hit with a Kiwi audience?

It was a delightful and hilarious exercise in disciplined chaos. It had the feel of improvised comedy. I loved all the narrative tag-teaming and taking on multiple roles. But the fact it didn't descend into actual chaos, just shows it was painstakingly directed and rehearsed.

Yeah, their timing was incredible. What about those French accents, though? Years of study at the Cours Florent? Or watching every series of "Allo Allo"?

I couldn't possibly say... But don't you think this was a story about stories? The way each character chipped in to relate their own meetings with the eponymous lothario. Each tale being suitably tall and preposterous, of course.

Yes! The stories actually contradicted each, so we got arguments about whether or not things actually happened. And they got the audience involved in that!

Right from the start. In fact from before the start! Cast members were hanging out in the bar, learning people's names and picking up tidbits they could use later.

They were scarily good at remembering names! They remembered yours. And they were ready for anything. I flashed my best tourist francais at one of them and the response was "Oh, yar Frunsch is vurrrry gewd..." Nicely played, I thought, nicely played. And when we sat down in the theatre they glammed us all up with pashminas and feathery fascinators – so zexy und uttracteeeeeve!

And there was lots of audience participation! They recruited people to play parts in the main narrative as well as roping them into ongoing personal dramas between cast members. The fourth wall wasn’t just torn down, it wasn't built in the first place!

I know! When I went back to the bar after the show, I was mixing with people I recognised. It was like they were fully fledged cast members having a mingle!

But the audience members invited onto the 'stage' were always respectfully treated and helpfully guided. There wasn't any risk of anxiety or humiliation.

I think it helped that a lot of the humour was self-deprecating. And the whole production was based on respecting boundaries. It said in the programme that they wanted people to join in, but to just shake your head or say no if you didn’t want to. "We'll do everything we can to make you look great and have a good time" it said. Who doesn't want that?

Which is in stark contrast to the contemptuous attitude to audience involvement we saw when we went to Red Bastard.

We're going to harp on about how bad that was forever, aren't we?

Possibly. There was so much going on in this show. The incredible recurring death scene, the most vivid unseen sex scene you could imagine, and periodically they all just burst into song.

They were really good singists. I think I recognised one of the numbers.

Val. They were all really famous songs from international artists.

I am so uncool...

Anyway. The set was minimal, and therefore, presumably cheap.

What set? There wasn't a set at all! Just props whipped out of suitcases and waved about or handed to audience members.

Oh! I think you're right. Damn. That's how good they were at creating a scene! Like getting us all to be the dark scary forest and create that dramatic maritime scene.

You're not kidding. I didn't know whether I was going to hurl or drown...

Oh, there was one particular clever device used throughout to give Don Juan a distinctive voice.

Yes – the 'voice projector'! So well done.

So different cast members got to play him while avoiding confusion. It also had the effect of creating a sense of distance from the other characters, making him seem less mundane. More suitably mythical.

Always one removed, never quite real. Clever stuff.

It was a delicious farce, but beneath the surface there was a grown up story about morality, honesty and the meaning of a life. Perhaps Don Juan is not who we think he is, or even who he thinks he is.

He kept the moral high ground though. He never lied, he never pretended to be more than he was. And all that stuff about whether allowing yourself to need someone ever leads to anything more than pain.

Thought provoking, precision performing, incredibly funny. Oh, and did we mention the outraaaageous French accents?