In a possibly unfortunate sentence in the programme note to Where There’s a Will, director Sir Peter Hall remarks that “[Feydeau] is much amused and so are we by the insanity that lust produces”. Much amused? Not entirely, given that the playwright in question “died of syphilis in a lunatic asylum”, as Brewer’s Theatre tersely puts it.

Feydeau’s is an immoral world, in which the presumption is that sexual misbehaviour is the norm, with married men bearing a special responsibility to cheat on their partners. Where There’s a Will (originally Le Système Ribadier) is an early work by the writer, dating from 1892, before his trademark gifts as a farceur – the madcap chases involving many doors, the multiple misunderstandings – were fully developed.

It is offered here in a new translation by Nicki Frei which in its unbecoming modernity (“bit of a slapper” especially jarred with me) rather damages the period flavour so well achieved in the gorgeous costumes (men’s and women’s) and Christopher Woods’ belle époque set.

This is dominated by an ornate balcony at the rear (ideal, of course for those amorous assignations) and, beside it, a large portrait, supposedly by Manet, of the apartment owner’s late husband. Angèle (Sara Stewart) does not so much treasure it but defiantly display it as an awful warning to her new spouse, declaring “all husbands are cheats”.

During the eight years of her previous marriage, her sex-crazed partner deceived her no fewer than 365 times. Pathologically jealous now, she is determined that Ribadier (Charles Edwards) will not err – “which rather cramps my style”, as he explains in one of the first of the characters’ many, somewhat atmosphere-damaging, asides to the audience.

Fortunately, he has his “système” which, a full two years before the fictional debut of George du Maurier’s Svengali, involves the use of hypnotism. When an assignment is in prospect, he puts Angèle into a deep sleep from which she can be roused by a means known only to him.

Unfortunately (if predictably), he can’t help boastfully revealing his secret to his old friend Thommereux (Tony Gardner), a man recently arrived in Paris from the East, whither he had fled years before to escape the heartbreak of Angèle’s marriage to another (the serial adulterer). More eager than ever for an affair with her, he now has the means to accomplish this safely.

But nothing runs smoothly in farce, and soon all sorts of complications set in, including the arrival on the scene of the cuckolded husband of Ribadier’s latest conquest. Savinet (Teddy Kempner) proves a splendid comic creation, a money-grubbing wine dealer who combines pomposity and servility in near-equal measure.

Sometimes, it has to be said, one starts to envy the uncomplicated sex lives of the servant class. This is perfectly exemplified in the remark by groom Gusman (Jason Thorpe) as he romps with servant Sophie (Nelly Harker) amid the splendours of the flat: “I’d sooner have this than all of this!”

This impeccably acted play, directed at a cracking pace by Sir Peter, continues at the Oxford Playhouse, until Saturday. Tel. 01865 305305 (www.oxfordplayhouse.com)