FISH OUT OF WATER All Saints Dramatic Society's production of Derek Benfield's comedy Directed by Brian Foley

THIS was one of those comedies that, on paper, probably seemed hilarious. It is set in an hotel on the Italian Riviera, where the combination of holidaymakers from hell, a baggage-handlers’ strike, a drunken manager and a pretty assistant, not to mention an inefficient tour guide, becomes the catalyst for two days of absolute chaos. The sort of farce, in fact, that twenty years ago would have had end-of-pier audiences screaming with laughter and congratulating themselves that they had stayed in England. But tastes have changed, and the whole scenario, although it certainly had its comic moments, appeared dated and unsophisticated. However, the set beautifully conveyed a sense of high summer and the cast (Bron Littlewood, Phillipa Newman, Roger Lock, Sheila Clapcott, Penny Lock, Jamie Hill and Laurie Patey) worked hard and effectively to create realistic characters. But I felt they sensed that the laughs were not exactly coming thick and fast so tried even harder, and in doing so went just too far over the top, particularly later in the performance. Unfortunately, no doubt due to the characters’ sunstroke, the services of the prompt were required on several occasions, reducing the pace almost to a crawl when a sprint was what was needed. Linda Kirkman