THE Teignmouth Players will be serving up their next production at the end of this month when Alan Ayckbourn’s ever-popular comedy Table Manners takes to the stage at the Ice Factory.

The Players wanted to rehearse something funny in the dark winter evenings and have decided to take a trip back to the 1970s, as one family comes together across one weekend, for four meals in one dining room.

They haven’t all sat around the same table since the Christmas before, and putting them all together, the audience will very soon see why this doesn’t happen very often. With seats available behind all four sides of the table, this should prove to be quite an unusual way to see the play.

Jo Clark takes the role of Annie, who lives in the house, caring for her unseen elderly mother. She receives regular visits from the young vet next door, Tom, played by Lewis Bird, but the relationship appears disappointingly platonic.

Annie has planned to get away for a dirty weekend and so her brother Reg, played by Steve Day, and his wife, Sarah, played by Jemma Carlin-Wells, are returning to care for mother to give the little sister a break.

It isn’t long before Sarah uncovers Annie’s secret, that the weekend away isn’t with the neighbour, but with Annie’s own brother-in-law, Norman, played by Sam Merrell. Sarah forbids Annie to go, and when Norman arrives, things start to get messy as the homemade wine starts flowing.

Penny Bains, a newcomer to the Teignmouth stage, plays Ruth, who is called upon to come and sort out her husband, but she would rather be anywhere but the house she grew up in having to take Norman in hand. Will Sarah have to sort everyone out?

Norman is determined to be loved, and he doesn’t care who loves him; Reg is looking for a quiet life and something to eat; Ruth just wants to get back to work; Annie wants to get away from it all; Sarah is determined that they will all enjoy one nice happy family meal together; and as for Tom, well, he’s just trying to save the cat.

Add into the mix a shortage of supplies in the kitchen and a strange desire to bring out the family’s ‘special’ place mats, and you’ll find yourself watching a family gathering that is both recognisable and a complete nightmare.

Safe to say it is guaranteed to put you off having any family over for dinner in the foreseeable future!

Directed by Jolyon Tuck, Table Manners is being performed at the Ice Factory, Teignmouth across two weeks. The first run is from February 27 to March 1, and then again from March 5 to 8. Performance time each evening is 7.30pm.

Tickets are priced at £12 and more information available is available at their website www.teignmouthplayers.org.uk.