Members of the Oxford Theatre Guild promise their audiences a wonderfully happy and gratifying evening of sheer entertainment when they come to the Oxford Playhouse to see the award-winning Neil Simon play Plaza Suite, which they are staging next week.

Neil Simon is often cited as the US's most popular playwright; he's certainly its most prolific writer. While he has a reputation for writing comedies, this play offers even more. It creates snapshots of three couples at a pivotal moment in their lives, in episodes set against the backdrop of the Plaza Suite in a New York Hotel.

It's because he weaves serious subject matter into this play, but treats it with both humour and compassion, that this is such compelling drama, full of very poignant moments. As Neil Simon admits, life is both sad and funny. He says he can't imagine a comical situation that isn't at the same time also painful. Guild member Janet Bolam, who is directing this play, says that when she first read Plaza Suite and was drawn to it, she realised that she knew the people it featured as they are like her own relatives. The only difference is the extreme circumstances that Neil Simon's characters are placed in.

The play begins during a New York winter when Karen takes the suite in order to rescue her marriage to high-flying businessman Sam. This wry tale of a marriage in tatters is followed by the exploits of a jaded Hollywood producer who, after three marriages, is looking for a little spring-time diversion with a childhood sweetheart. A smart June wedding sets the scene for the final act with the mother and father of the bride spending a frantic half-hour trying to tempt, cajole and physically prise their daughter out of a locked hotel bathroom. That final scene is edge-of-the-seat stuff and very entertaining.

Plaza Suite runs at the Oxford Playhouse from Tuesday to Saturday, April 19. Tickets can be booked on: 01865 305305 (www.oxfordplayhouse.com).