Fox on the Fairway – Addingham Players

“I’m not saying my game of golf is good, but if I grew tomatoes they’d come up sliced" – the lofty claim of Dickie Bell, an amateur golfer from the fictitious Pendle Hill club who has thrown down the tournament gauntlet (nine iron) to the equally fictitious Addingham Golf Club.

This brilliant farce revolves round this crucial match, played not only for the honour of the respective clubs but also for extremely high stakes in the form of a sure-thing wager, which transpires to be anything but ...

Hugh Lambert plays Dickie Bell, a womaniser with the most extraordinary notion of appropriate golfing attire – his golfing cap on his first appearance deserved a bow of its own. There is a wonderful spat between him and one of his ex – wives, Pamela, played beautifully venomously by Gill Stead.

A blossoming relationship between young lovers Justin and Louise (David Tomlinson and Kate Lambert) is played out hilariously. Justin is nervy and romantic whilst Louise is prone to outbursts of hysteria and in true farce style they are both very poor at explaining themselves leading to a series of near disastrous misunderstandings.

Equally funny is the combination of Henry and Muriel Bingham played by Ian Taylor and Jane Aldridge. Henry, the club captain, is prepared to risk everything he owns and everything his battle-axe wife owns, on the outcome of the match. Unsurprisingly, when his wife finds out she isn’t impressed.

All of these pairings are affected by the outcome of the match and there are perfect comedy moments - check your new ring fits before flushing; check the mic is off before declaring love to someone who’s not your wife; don’t give away your wife’s new priceless vase; never, never drink too much. There is even a remarkable 'Long Lost Family' surprise which changes everything.

Performances from every cast member are outstanding, full of energy and with brilliant comic timing – truly the funniest play I’ve seen in a long while. And when they say 'let’s do it one more time' I wanted to stand and cheer.

Becky Carter.