JUDITH Bliss is a retired actress who doesn't so much make a drama out of a crisis as out of every single event.

Even weeding the garden is turned into a three-act tragedy. Add a self-centred writer husband, two obnoxious children and a scowling maid to the household and you have the recipe for the country house party from hell. You can only pity the four poor fools invited to stay.

They're subjected to a weekend of humiliation and contempt in the company of a family whose life is anything but bliss. As the writer is Noel Coward, you can rest assured that this "comedy of bad manners" will unfold with much humour and fun. The play isn't so much about funny lines - although much Cowardian wit is apparent - but about the escalating farce as guests are unsettled by the Bliss's tantrums and traumas.

Damian Cruden's production, played out on Nigel Hook's impressively cluttered country house set, takes time to warm up. But once chaos descends, it heads at a helter-skelter speed to the finale as guests make a hasty exit from this house of horrors. Kate Brown's Judith Bliss is a wonderful creation, full of fake mannerisms and a vowel-mangling voice designed to reach the back of the stalls. No wonder David Leonard's rakish writer takes refuge in his room. Among the guests, Amy Humphreys' dim flapper and Mark Payton's out-of-his-depth suitor Richard Greatham provide nice comic turns.

* Until June 11. Tickets (01904) 623568.

Published: 27/05/2005