The Garden Party -- Keighley Playhouse

Family secrets, siblings at war and more skeletons in the cloest of middle-class domesticity than you could shake a stick at.

Keighley Playhouse's fourth effort of the season tackled a somewhat dysfunctional family gathering together for the 70th birthday celebration of their father.

And as revelations of miserable marriages, infidelities and long-supressed emotions bubbled up to the surface, the slightly sparse audience was treated to a gentle and enjoyable enough comedy.

The laughs were never really sustained however and unlike previous Playhouse performances, the second act did drag a little.

That is not to say it lacked some good performances -- especially Sheila Kershaw as the eternally grumpy aunt Hettie. Her penchant for nipping off for a sly tot of the strong stuff brought amusement.

June Driver's good-time golden girl Eunice was also played with a deft touch -- as was Dale Chadwick's foul-mouthed, 'woe is me' younger brother Charlie.

Laura Judge was her usual good value but leads Stuart Farrell as Richard and Jan Darnbrough as Jan -- both likeable enough on the whole -- suffered some first-night line lapses that didn't help a slightly plodding script.

Stuart Roberts