“ Separate  Tables,” by Terence Rattigan PERFORMED BY: Hillbarn Theatre. Directed by Hunt Burdick. WHERE: 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City WHEN: 8pm Thur. – Sat.; 2pm Sunday. Closes March 27. TICKETS: $19 - $36. CONTACT: 650-349-6411 or www. Hillbarntheatre.org _______________________________________________________ It’s very rare when one reviews an excellent and honored play that one is tempted to say the cast almost outshines the work itself. The play mounted currently at the Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City is English playwright Terence Rattigan’s “ Separate  Tables,” which was, also, filmed and honored as a movie. Here, director Hunt Burdick has performed something of a marvel, morphing what is essentially a routine comedy/drama into a really delightful satirical comedy without the drama. But, he couldn’t have pulled that one off if he hadn’t gathered in some of the prime talent in the Bay Area to fill the roles. Burdick seems to have recognized the unique humor in the old country quaintness of formality in the British condition during the past mid-century, when a collection of essentially lonely upper middle class people, emotionally remote from each other, routinely dine at  separate  tables.  Overseen by the hotel manager Miss Cooper (Ruth Sieber), there is the shy, sexually repressed Sibyl Railton-Bell (Betsy Burdick) and kept so by her domineering mother Mrs. Railton-Bell (Sandy Pardini-Cashmark). She is exceedingly impressed with and enamored of the stuffy, older, retired military man. Major Pollock (Craig C. Lewis).  Other single  tables are occupied by Miss Meacham (Kiki Arnaudo), Lady Matheson (Mary Moore) and Mr. Fowler (Michael Sally). Weaving in and out of the action waiting on the  tables is the impertinent Doreen (Tenaya Hurst). The last table is occupied, when he gets around to showing up, by Mr. John Malcomb (Rich Dymer) who is startled when his ex-wife, the sleek and sultry Mrs. Anne Shankland (Nicole Martin) shows up unexpectedly as another guest at the hotel and steps between him and his hot relationship with the manager, Miss Cooper, a woman of cold, controlled composure.   When Major Pollock is arrested for some kind of improper conduct with a number of women in a cinema, the kind of thing that would be laughed out of court in the U. S., it arouses a crisis in the hotel. While Sibyl becomes devastated by the news, her mother, the self-righteous Mrs. Railton-Bell, calls a conference with the other residents of the hotel, gets their approval vote and demands that Miss Cooper eject Pollock from the hotel.  Meanwhile the sultry Anne Shankland is attempting to seduce her ex-husband - who has already  served a term in prison for assaulting her out of frustration - into a new sexual relationship.  Nothing much else happens in the plot but it is the performers who make this a must-see production. The always-excellent Rich Dymer plays against type and is winning with his split second comic timing as he tries to deal with a past unhinged by his ex-wife. Nicole Martin carries that role to the vampish extreme of absurdity without going over the edge.  Craig C. Lewis nuances the inner turmoil resulting from concealing the insecurities within Major Pollock’s stiff, almost pompous British military persona.  And as Sibyl, his secret admirer, Betsy Burdick shows a rare talent for performing childish tantrums without looking ridiculous, herself. And, who could do better as her waspish, irredeemably dominating mother than the veteran actress Sandy Pardini-Cashmark. The other three residents play only peripheral roles in the action, but their characterizations are spot on British types. Kiki Arnaudo is the classically independent-minded upper class lady. And, the beautiful, normally leading role actress, Mary Moore is almost unrecognizable as she squeezes herself down into the pinched, insecure Lady Matheson.  Michael Sally, in the role of Mr. Fowler here, has always made me think he would have been a silent movie “great.” There is no actor in the Bay Area, who I know of, who is his equal in transmitting his role with facial expressions alone. Even when he is silent, there is no question of what he is thinking.  There should also be a tribute paid to Hunt Burdick’s vision and direction in seeing the humor in these characterizations. And Gary Wong’s set design lays to rest the fear that the retirement of Resident Set Designer Lee Basham would diminish the extraordinary sets for which Hillbarn Theatre has become noted.  No fear! This period piece is a knockout.  By the way, did I tell you I loved this cast?