If laughter is a tonic, everyone who saw this must have gone home on a high.

If laughter is a tonic, everyone who saw this must have gone home on a high. Critics who maintain that amateur groups cannot tackle farce should have watched this magnificent performance at Hoxne Village Hall.

The chaotic events of a night in a village vicarage in wartime Britain had the packed audience in hysterics.

Philip King's fast-moving play demands split-second timing and a fair amount of agility, but director David Green followed up his past successes with expertise, aided by a wonderful cast.

There were exceptional performances from Ros Redelsperger as the disapproving spinster who becomes inebriated, Yves Green the former actress who finds it difficult to settle as a vicar's wife and Simon Evans as the bewildered Mr Humphrey.

Excellent support was given by Emma Matthews as the perky maid Ida, Malcolm Perry as the Rev Lionel Toop, Grant Filshill as the army corporal and former actor Clive Winton, Bruce Cox as the escaped German prisoner, Michael Desmond as the bumbling bishop and John Elsden as the army sergeant.

The set was well constructed with its numerous but necessary doors although a few more touches were needed to convey the period.