THE Christmas festivities may be over, but Newport Playgoers Society is sure to lift the gloom with its production of the hilarious farce Not Now Darling.

Written by the masters of the genre, Ray Cooney and John Chapman, Not Now Darling is an hilarious romp from start to finish, and will be at the Dolman Theatre in Newport from January 17-22.

Experienced director Graham Bryant, who has previously starred in the farce for another society, is steering the production, aiming to get every laugh from an already hysterically funny plot.

He is ably aided by his cast, which combines youth and experience and includes a welcome return from Playgoers' stalwart Richard Dymond, who has been working abroad for a number of years.

Not Now Darling is set in the exclusive London fur salon of Bodley and Crouch, where Crouch (the well-meaning innocent) struggles to keep things on an even keel despite the energetic philandering of his partner.

At the moment, with his wife away on holiday in France, Bodley is trying to secure the affections of his latest would-be mistress by "selling" her husband an expensive mink fur coat for a fraction of its real worth, and the stammering Crouch is saddled with the task of consummating the sale with a straight face - and so the complications begin.

Suspicious wives, mistaken identities, close calls, scantily clad women clapped hurriedly into closets and a continuous barrage of rapid fire jokes all become part of the hilarious action, as the play bubbles along merrily right up to the final curtain.

It's madcap, mischievous fun which should have audiences rolling in the aisles.

Not Now Darling is at the Dolman Theatre from January 17-22. Tickets are available from the Visitor Centre at Newport Library in John Frost Square or from the box office on the night. Performances start at 7.15pm (Friday 7.30pm).