As rehearsals progress for our April production of The Female of the Species, my eye has turned to productions staged by other groups in the area.

So last night six of us ventured unto the Abingdon Unicorn Theatre to see ’Prescription for Murder’ by Norman Robbins. The Old Gaol Theatre Company presented us with a great set and the atmosphere on a cold late winter night in the Unicorn was spot on for this modern ‘whodunnit’.

Now this is my sort of play, set in middle class England, the French windows, the cosy fireplace, the book shelves and drinks cabinet oh yes, right up my street. A dinosaur I may be but I like it.

So the play began, bravely the cast moved into action without a prompt to be a seen and soon got themselves into the silence zone as first night nerves hit home and the lines dried. Very brave for amateurs to not use a prompt, most people I know would rather hear a prompt than stare at their shoes for what seems a lifetime whilst the cast stare at each other. One scene where this happened last night was when the leading lady dried and improvised with ‘There’s the ‘phone’ when no ring tone had been forthcoming. Amateur theatre, don’t you just love it.

Apart from the no-prompt decision which is akin to the decision not to give Word War I pilots parachutes as this made them fight better-the Old Gaol gets a B+ from me for effort and choice of play.

The action takes place in a sleepy Devon village where something evil is stirring in the home of Dr Richard Forth and his new wife Barbara, ably played by Julie Kemp-Harpers. Her husband the good Doctor was played by Ian Wooster and if I was one of his patients I would be complaining to the BMA as this gruff, aggressive MD probably caused more symptoms than he cured. For me the ‘man of the match’ as it were was Julie Kedward with her portrayal of Julia Moore, one of the doctor’s ex-girlfriends.

Strangely this lady was in the last production I saw at the Unicorn and caught my eye then for her professional and confident acting skills. Well done again Ms Kedward, go to the front of the class.

Anyway it was a good night, thoroughly enjoyable and if the front of house could get their act together and their timing be as good as that on stage we could have enjoyed several further glasses of their excellent mulled wine.

A little story now that I understand happened in a store near the A34.

A man in Tesco's wanted to buy half a cauliflower. The very young produce assistant tells him that they sell only whole cauliflowers. The man persists and asks to see the manager. The boy says he'll ask his manager about it.

Walking into the managers office, the boy said to his manager, 'Some prat out there wants to buy half a cauliflower.'

As he finished his sentence, he turned to find the man standing right behind him, so he quickly added, 'And this gentleman has kindly offered to buy the other half.'

The manager approved the deal, and the man went on his way.

Later the manager said to the boy, 'I was impressed with the way you got yourself out of that situation earlier. We like people who think on their feet here. Where are you from, son?'

'Liverpool, sir,' the boy replied. Why did you leave Liverpool, the manager asked? The boy said, 'Sir, there's nothing but whores and footballers up there.'

'Really?' said the manager. 'My wife is from Liverpool .'

'You're kidding?' replied the boy. 'Who'd she play for?'