We have been unable to find anything we really wanted to see since our trip to "Tosca" in April and owing to the financial problems of the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, our annual treat of "Shakespeare in the Park" at the Rougement Gardens was cancelled. The Agatha Christie play, "Witness For the Prosecution" had already been to the Queens Theatre, Barnstaple, so some of our usual theatre goers had already seen it and I found the lack of numbers did not make that trip viable and so cancelled our booking. However, Exeter University is financially supporting the Northcott and I am hopeful that we can find something of interest in the autumn.

We did eventually go to "Stepping Out", a comedy written by Richard Harris, on 8th July and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching Brian Capron and Anita Harris leading a talented cast. The story is briefly as follows: in a dusty church hall, ex-professional dancer Mavis Turner holds her weekly tap class whose members are pretty mixed, both in personality and talent, but nevertheless enthusiastic (at times). The fabulously roly-poly Lynne was a real revelation with her eye-popping leotards and snooty Vera (Anita Harris), in contrast, so slim, with her designer ones and the only man in the class (Brian Capron) appearing to be really bad at tap with no sense of rythm and completely lacking confidence. Mavis asks them if they would like to dance at a charity gala and disbelief gives way to complete terror as she tries to lick them into shape, with varying results. As tempers start to fray, their private lives start to emerge and it seems they all have skeletons in their cupboards they do not wish to share with their fellow tap dancers. A really good afternoon's entertainment and, although some of the private lives story lines could have been explored more fully, judging by the comments, it was enjoyed by all. "Second half better than the first" ..... "a little trite, but fun"....."lively, knockabout play, but with a more serious undertone" ..... "enjoyed the performance,a lot fun, particularly towards the end".

A programme of our autumn trips is also available in Bude Library's U3A book, as well as online.

MD