MADS ready with festive comedy

ACTORS at MADS Little Theatre are getting into the festive spirit with a performance of Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘Season’s Greetings’.

The amateur dramatics group are performing the farcical comedy this week until Saturday, December 9.

The story follows the lives of Neville Bunker and his wife Belinda as they struggle to host their dysfunctional family for Christmas.

Heading the cast for the festive mayhem are John Haigh as Neville and Elizabeth Bloor as Belinda.

Richard Probyn takes the role of Bernard, who is obsessed with his puppet show, with Lucia Wilde as Rachel – Belinda’s single sister – and Steve Donnelly as Uncle Harvey.

They are joined by Andy Cantillon, Emma Hulley, Lesley Revell and Greg Rowe.

Bethan Rimmer is the assistant director and Jenny Pitcock will stage manage.

Director Richard Shute, who produced Dial M for Murder at MADS earlier this year, urges everyone to get into the Christmas spirit with this latest production.

He said: “Season’s Greetings is an immensely funny play, a situation comedy where the situation is the classic family Christmas – tensions are high, relationships are sorely tested and there is only one surefire way to escape.

“Ayckbourn himself gave this advice for putting on a Christmas play – ‘give them a landmine, but make sure you wrap it in a bit of tinsel’.

“The Season’s Greetings landmine is made up of stressed relatives, overly pink lamb, muddy mousse, too much claret, broken and malfunctioning presents, a soupçon of lust and a dose of piggy puppet hell.

“The tinsel, on the other hand, is yet another fantastic MADS production. Merry Christmas!”

Tickets cost £8 for concessions and £10 full price. They can be obtained from tickets@ madstheatre.org or from Box Office on 01625 611974.