Bell-ringing drama

Susan Chester (Celia Imrie, pictured) is a Hampshire matron. She breeds Sealyham terriers, is part of the local bell-ringing team and her cut-andcomeagain cake always wins prizes at the village fete. 'I'm not a bit of a snob,' she says at one point. 'I'm a terrific snob.'

Half way through this onewoman show, she learns that her manic-depressive son Simon has become a suicide bomber and killed several people in a Jewish restaurant in London.

If this review were more of a recommendation, I would have withheld that development. But playwright Stewart Permutt has created an odd, lop-sided piece that crunches through its gear changes. It starts waspishly camp, like Alan Bennett lite. Then it focuses on Susan's attempt to understand her son's actions (he was possibly homosexual, and influenced by an evil Egyptian). Then we hear Susan's naive views on the Middle East crisis.

The characterisation is threadbare. Permutt clearly adores his creation, and the less palatable aspects of her personality (her racial bigotry, for example) feel like late insertions into the play to give her some depth.

Celia Imrie is nevertheless superbly watchable. Her comic timing is perfect, and her sense of detail remarkable. But even she can't transcend this wellmeaning but muddled material.

Unsuspecting Susan