THIS is one of the funniest plays I have ever seen, a real pleasure to watch.

It demands good timing, as it verges on farce, but the Kidderminster Operatic and Dramatic Society's (KODS) talented cast were on top form.

Pat Scully was sparkling as Harriet, the lady whose living expenses are provided by two men, each totally unaware of each other's existence.

Her views on morality are such that she sees nothing wrong in a man having an extra-marital affair while living with his wife - as she says "A man may take a taxi from time to time, but it doesn't mean he wants to sell his car!"

The two men are played by Chris Paine and Charles Combes, both giving excellent performances and showing immaculate timing as they managed to avoid each other for so long.

Add into the mixing pot a superb performance on her debut from Salli Hunt, as Harriet's friend and the best yet performance from Thom Gordon as her husband.

Anne has decided to leave her husband and envies Harriet, but when she sees the mess her friend is in she decides it would be better to stay with the oft-inebriated vet.

Good support came from two other debutantes, Trudi Johnson and Pearl Oakley.

The play starts with Harriet and one of her men friends, getting up in the morning, and they seem like any other couple until she asks him for the housekeeping money and he says "Even my wife doesn't cost this much" - so now you know there's hanky-panky going on.

The next scene is later that same morning, and this time it is another man in her bed.

Harriet keeps each at bay when the other is around by inventing a straight-laced mother, who "visits" regularly and, as both men observe, has a liking for vodka.

Gordon keeps chickens, while Alec has a fishing business.

Gordon is fed up with all the fish Harriet cooks for him, while Alec is sick to death of omelettes. When Gordon slips on a halibut the mayhem really begins.

Gordon is confined to bed and calls his wife to say he is in a clinic, giving her the telephone number.

She traces the address and turns up, then proves to be the most gullible person on the planet as she believes that what is so obviously just an apartment is actually a clinic, where the matron wears a cocktail dress to work.

In the meantime the drunken vet has arrived, is passed off as a doctor and promptly passes out.

The play evolves with so many cases of mistaken identities, that even the characters begin to wonder who they are.

There are tales of lost memories, delusions and outright lies, but the cast kept the momentum going wonderfully. This was a great evening out.

The next production by KODS is My Fair Lady, which runs at The Rose from March 2 until March 11.

VJS