With a cast as well-respected as this one, you know you can settle back for a first-rate evening's entertainment, and About Alice doesn't disappoint.

I won't go into the convoluted plot twists; the play is about Alice Hogan, a strong, colourful personality, the widow of a renowned sculptor and artist. It's her birthday, and a gift arrives in the toothsome person of Joseph Panama, who has been hired, he blithely confesses, to bed Alice. "I don't do seduction," says Panama, but as it turns out seduction isn't necessary.

Gwen Taylor is perfect as Alice, a dominant character in her brightly-coloured, flowing silks. Her past is revealed in conversation with Ned, her oldest friend, beautifully played by Francis Matthews. Their relationship is as comfortable as a pair of old slippers, his laid-back, laconic wit an ideal foil for her down-to-earth humour and ringing laugh.

What a contrast when publishing executive Peggy Black arrives from America to try to persuade Alice to part with her famous husband's diaries. Edgy and humourless, you just know she has a hidden agenda, especially as she pretends Panama, whom she has hired, is her photographer. I haven't seen Rosalind Cressy before, but she held her own admirably with such seasoned company.

Michael Greco, of course, caused a bit of flutter as 'tart with a heart' Panama. "I don't have to act sexy," he declares to nervous Peggy, "I am sexy!" Not many ladies in the audience would disagree!

* Until Saturday. Booking Office 01325-486555

Published: 13/05/2004