The 'Art of the Dabble' at the Careline Theatre in Alcalali

THE play ‘Art of the Dabble’ will perform from this Thursday October 6 until Saturday 8 at the Careline Theatre in Alcalali.

Should you wish to know a little bit more about the art of the ‘dabble’  -wives and their lawyers call it adultery – you should follow Cliff and Maurice out to the pub courtyard in ‘The Day of the Dog’.

This illuminating play is one of the four that make-up Graham Swannell’s ‘A State of Affairs’.

Cliff (played by Andy Crabb) and Maurice (played by Jim Sissens) have two motivations for taking their pints out to the courtyard; Terri and Valerie (played by Candida Wright and Leigh Patterson) who are there sunning themselves and being a little lascivious.

To their amazement, they find sitting there, nursing a glass of whisky and looking absolutely ghastly, their old chum, Alan. The girls will have to wait. They must find out what has happened to Alan.

It comes as no surprise to them to find that cause of Alan’s deep depression is his wife. They have had experience of such things and it comes as no surprise to them that she is a bit vicious because Alan has had a ‘dabble’.

What is totally beyond their comprehension is Alan told her he had had a ‘dabble’.

Too late, by far, the lads acquaint Alan about the intricacies of ‘dabbling’. It does not do Alan much good but is highly entertaining, and possibly illuminating, for the audience.

The other three plays in ‘A State of Affairs’ are ‘Stuttgart’, the heart rending story of a man who has to tell his wife that his sex drive has slipped into first gear; ‘Commitment’, about how a disposable nappy can smother a couples fun; and ‘Consequences’ which tells us about the difficulties of trying to have an affair without them.

This Careline Theatre production is directed by Lee Walker.

Curtain-up each evening is at 20.00hrs.

For information and tickets call 652 294 750, part of ticket proceeds which will benefit local cancer research. www.carelinetheatre.com

By Bernard King