`DO NOT DISTURB'-- by Ron Pertwee -- BMDS at Daylesford -- September 22-27.

Comedies, especially those with a farcical twist, are almost a staple of the British theatre scene. A comedy in which women outnumber the men by four to one, however, are rather more rare -- and possibly the reason why Victoria Waddington selected Michael Pertwee's `Do Not Disturb' for her debut as a director.

While the story-line (and the wit, for that matter) falls short of scintillating brilliance, it is the sort of play that happily engages the mind -- but not too arduously -- for an evening's light-hearted entertainment; it is beautifully literate and the characters, unlike those we generally encounter in a farce, are rooted in reality.

Ms Waddington, who has been teaching drama for the Jackson School of Performing Arts, and has a degree in drama and education, is leaving Bermuda shortly to pursue her career in the UK. During her time here she has turned in some fine performances onstage and in this production, she reveals some potential for directing.

One of the problems with comedy, of course, is that it requires very experienced actors who not only understand the timing of lines but who have the confidence to make their characters somewhat larger than life. Although she was only half successful in acquiring people of this calibre, the director revealed a good understanding of the technicalities involved in staging a play, using carefully crafted movent and blocking to particularly good effect.

After a slow start which, for the new actors, was probably due to first night nerves, she established a good pace which never flagged.

`Do Not Disturb' centres around Jay, the lone male of the proceedings who, middle-aged and having walked out on his third marriage, has decided to start life afresh in the solitude of a modest London flat. Predictably, these good intentions are upset as a succession of the women in his life hunt him down.

Derek Corlett, a gifted all-rounder who earned high praise for his direction of last year's `Noises Off', took on the role of Jay. Onstage throughout, this character has to carry the play and while Corlett is always an engaging actor, he seemed miscast in the role of an ageing roue m . No amount of make-up could hide the fact that he simply looked too young to have had a wife for 18 years.

And sexual ruthlessness -- however loveable -- is obviously a foreign concept to the modest and sunny Mr. Corlett. Inexperienced in assuming a leading (and extremely demanding) role, he threw too many of his lines to the wings or upstage rather than to the audience. There was a feeling, however, that nerves were extracting a heavy toll and, as the evening progressed, his performance grew in stature until he reached the point where he could relax and enjoy some of his wonderful lines. By the end of the week, this was probably a quite different performance from that seen on opening night.

Sandy Lane, a newcomer to the Bermuda stage, took on the role of the slighted third wife, Sonia, a struggling actress by profession. Physically, she looked sultry enough to be tempting casting directors and the like, but there was an edge of belligerance rather than dramatic skittishness in this portrayal. This was a fundamental misreading as her intensity had the paradoxical effect of diluting the overall comedic thrust.

Carolyn Finch, on the other hand, was well cast as Darlene, his depressed, but fundamentally good-hearted neighbour across the landing who, for unexplained reasons, is intent on suicide. This was a thespian `first' for Finch, who proved herself to be a natural, delivering her dead-pan one liners in the flat, nasal tones that captured the weary seediness of a young woman floundering in the lonely abyss of bed-sits and take-out foods.

It was Evelyn MacGregor, indisputably one of Bermuda's best actresses and cast very much in the slightly-over-the-top Maggie Smith mould, who raised this production to its true potential. Sweeping onstage as the first wife whose subsequent life has been made bearable by her discovery of Jesus, she proceeded to hold the audience in sway: certainly larger than life, with exquisite timing of lines -- and reactions to lines -- this was almost a case study of how light comedy should be performed. She is able, so skilfully, to tread that essential tight-rope line that engages sympathy -- for her plight, but also for the husband who had to put up with her.

Completing the cast was Karen Swain, in a small role, but hitting the right note of cloying sweetness as Jay's love-lorn secretary.

Set design was imaginatively realised by Gary Lounsbury.

All in all, an enjoyable and entertaining evening of theatre in a TV-sitcom sort of way. There is once again, though, the feeling that BMDS could, and should, be using Daylesford for rather more substantial fare than this.

PATRICIA CALNAN LONE MALE -- Derek Corlett's performance as Jay grew in stature.