Local Affairs Dereham Operatic Society

DEREHAM Operatic Society's latest production certainly wasn't afraid of dealing with weighty issues - tackling everything from health farms to mothers-in-law, by way of motorcycle maintenance, fancy dress parties and domestic chores.
The farcical action revolved around a day in the life of three couples who have recently moved to a housing estate, but have yet to meet their neighbours. And, although some of the actors were a bit rusty with their lines on the first night, the well-timed delivery of Richard Harris's script earned them regular peals of laughter. Rarely a minute passed without an innuendo of one sort or another, with members of the cast either rushing back and forth between ever more absurd costume changes or lounging in bed.

Doctor on top in farcical affairs

An innovative stage design, showing the insides of three rooms in three houses at once allowed the quick-fire action to jump between locations as characters peered out of windows or stormed across the street.
But, although these situations were funny enough in themselves, the real butt of the jokes was middle-class society, and all the characters were instantly recognisable. There was Lavina Pirret's weight-conscious mother, Tom Monument's neurotic divorcee, or Jill Jarman's meddling mother-in-law. But top of this chaotic heap was undoubtedly lan Sandell's admirably eccentric Dr Charles Prentice, a borderline alcoholic with an irritable disposition who forces us to ask ourselves once again: "Why do we trust our GPs?"

Ed Nash