(by Mark)BAWDY, rumbustious comedy, an Alan Ayckbourn classic that takes humour into the darker side of domestic strife, Wilde wit and a drama favourite from more than 200 years ago.

(by Mark)

BAWDY, rumbustious comedy, an Alan Ayckbourn classic that takes humour into the darker side of domestic strife, Wilde wit and a drama favourite from more than 200 years ago... Throw them into the mixer and you get the new spring-into-summer programme at Westacre Theatre.

The resident company at the studio theatre has changed its spring season to pay tribute to Nobel Prize-winner Harold Pinter following his death in December. Other Places is the umbrella title given to three of his one-act plays from the early 1980s: A Kind of Alaska, Family Voices and Victoria Station.

There are Friday and Saturday evening performances from March 20 to March 28.

May Days is the name given to a celebration of life and love in words and music, devised to launch the 2009 Westacre Summer Theatre season by Eileanora Ni Charthaig, Tap Robinson and the theatre's creative team of Issy Huckle and Andy Naylor, plus friends. The Friday, May 1 performance will be followed the Saturday afterwards by a gala night performance, featuring wine and refreshments, for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Ayckbourn's 1977 work, Just Between Ourselves, offers a prime example of the prolific playwright's ability to weave together uproarious laughter and utter despair in his social comedies.

Dennis thinks he has found a buyer for his car, in the shape of the hapless Neil, but negotiations don't quite go according to plan...

Just Between Ourselves runs at Westacre's summer tented arena on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from May 21 to June 6.

Andy Naylor has adapted Oliver Goldsmith's timeless success, She Stoops to Conquer, for a run in the arena from July 2-18. And then the mood changes completely, as Matt Grist directs two of John Godber's closely-observed comedies about nightlife in the modern age. Bouncers (July 23-August 7), set outside a dodgy discotheque, has been remixed and Shakers (July 30-August 8), set in a cocktail bar, restirred to bring them right up to date. But be warned, all of human - and sub-human -- life is there in both shows!

The curtain comes down on the summer season with a production that went down well off Broadway. West Moon Street, by Rob Urbinati, is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.

Lord Arthur is about to marry, but a palm reader predicts he will be involved in a murder, so he decides he must get the killing business out of the way before his wedding... Find out what happens between August 19 and 29.

This year's lunchtime Westacre Jazz Sunday lunchtime picnic sessions beside the babbling River Nar are on July 5, when The Old Codgers provide the entertainment, and on August 9, when Steve Cant Jazz perform.

For bookings, a brochure or more information about the spring/summer season call 01760 755800, website www.westacretheatre.com