We're fairly certain that the town of Giggleswick in South Yorkshire doesn't possess a group called 'The Giggleswick Players' - which is just as well seeing as this play would quickly demolish their membership numbers!

The play is an affectionate but slightly tongue-in-cheek look at the people that enjoy amateur acting and some of the problems that arise from their ambitions, whether they be artistic or amorous. It is not a farce, but a carefully scripted comedy, based on characters observed over the many years that the author trod the boards in small and large AmDram groups before settling down in Dorset to teach and write.

Most areas of on-stage AmDram life get some fun poked at them here, from the lighting man, through the various acting 'types' and styles of direction, to the backbone of every society - the rehearsal tea lady who doubles as the dresser/prompt/dogsbody.

Pam (the 'usual' Director), clips the wings of Billie (the aspiring Director) and then proceeds to cast and rehearse her next production - a musical version of a restoration comedy. Given the motley membership of the Players, Pam's free-style approach to auditions result in a fascinating mix of 'turns' - a Noel Coward song, two Sally Bowles look-alike's with a 'Cabaret' song, a heavy rock song, a Britney/Kylie song and dance troupe, and, to finish off, two female impersonators in full drag queen regalia. All of these are played way over the top - great fun! With the cast in place, rehearsals begin. Here we get to see just how ghastly their acting techniques are and how not to request and give a prompt.

In Act 2 we switch from seeing the stage from the auditorium to being in the backstage areas as the final performance is taking place. The highlights of this are a sequence of eighteen very short, mimed mini-scenes, which represent the often frantic, often frustrating but always fascinating activities on stage in amateur dramatics, and the climax of Pam's musical comedy - a 'full monty' complete with the appropriate backing music and 'costumes'. The nudity is unseen, although there is the possibility of seeing Pam's unclothed actors running 'backstage' to dress. The script calls for their backs to be visibly naked for a short time - but this could be altered if required.

Interspersed throughout the whole play are the threads of the ebb and flow of friendships, flings and fallings-out that exist between the various members - things that, of course, never happen in real life Am Dram groups!