Everything has its place and time: sometimes you want thought-provoking drama, evocative romance or weep-enducing tragedy. And sometimes you want a laugh.

Funny Peculiar is firmly aimed at the latter. An unashamed revival of Mike Stott's seventies sex comedy, this is the tale of a small town shopkeeper who dreams of free love.

With a cast of soap opera stars led by Coronation Street's Craig Gazey and ex-Hear'Say singer Suzanne Shaw, the crowd at Norwich's Theatre Royal were kept entertained with a flowing tide of uncomplicated gags.

Gazey gave a great line in physical comedy as the vexed grocer, in a loving but uneventful marriage with Shaw; tempted by Hollyoak's Gemma Bissix (and her variable accent) to explore his wild side - including showing it (literally and repeatedly) to the audience.

Steven Blakeley (Heartbeat) put in a nice turn as the backward but sometimes insightful village idiot, with Vicky Entwistle as his overbearing and ever-gossiping mother.

Fans of cutting edge comedy should look elsewhere: this is straightforward stuff, including a smartly-executed slapstick food fight between Gazey and his over-passionate confectionary supplier (Simon Naylor).

The jokes haven't been updated from the seventies and the sensibilities sometimes feel a little out of place, but that's exactly what is promised on the tin.

Funny Peculiar continues at the Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday, with performances nightly at 7.30pm and 2.30pm matinees on Wednesday and Saturday.