THE model posing for an art class is not the only thing stripped bare in Amy Rosenthal's Sitting Pretty.

Emotional despondency is also exposed, among both used and user, in a play that is both comic and poignant by turn and never resorts to that sort of nudge, nudge, wink, wink vein that would be all too easy considering its subject matter.

The canvas is much broader than that, as the recently made redundant Nancy (Sue Bennett) initially mopes around her sister, Nina's, (Catherine Marshall) flat, hardly helped by the well meaning Max's (Ian Greenwood) recollection of the misery he endured after losing his job before coming out the other side.

A chance meeting in a caf where art tutor Philip (Steve Evans) is seeing yet another relationship with one of his models, Zelda (Janine Hornsby) foundering leads Nancy to apply to replace her.

It is not until she turns up for her first session that she realises she will have to pose nude.

She gradually sheds her inhibitions in front of the students although rem-ains reticent to tell her sister exactly what she does at her art classes, with Nina curious about why she never sees any of Nancy's sketches.

Philip's tangled love life, meanwhile, is beginning to unravel, just as he begins to refocus on his art for its own sake, without an emotional entanglement to Nancy as she poses solely for him.

The Playhouse Company acquit themselves well in their rendering of a work touching on contemporary themes and exploring relationships, paying attention to detail rather than relying on broad brush strokes.

Sitting Pretty runs until Saturday.

Review by PETER McMILLAN