Dandy Dick is odds on favourite at The Waterside

I got a preview of Pinero’s wonderfully silly Victorian farce when it showed its colours during a VIP opening in Brighton last Tuesday.

Patricia Hodge is such fun as a no-nonsense former racehorse trainer who moves in with her cash-strapped brother and his two young fillies.

For years her brother, the Very Rev Augustin Jedd, the Dean of St Marvells, has preached about the sins of gambling until he takes the biggest gamble of his life in desperation to save his church from ruin. He’s persuaded by his headstrong sister to bet on her favourite nag, Dandy Dick, to win the cash he needs for church funds, but the wager is fraught with problems for Jedd (outrageously played by the sublimely funny Nicholas Le Prevost) and the horse.

There’s a moral in here somewhere about the evils of following the turf but you’ll have such a time laughing that I bet you’ll not notice!

There are some great performances especially from the two leads, John Arthur as the butler, Michael Cochrane as a fellow trainer and Rachel Lumberg as a former deanery cook.

Be assured no horses are harmed in the production!

Read a full review of the comedy, and lots more, online at the LBO’s website www.leightonbuzzardonline.co.uk

Dandy Dick runs from July 17-21. For tickets go online to www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury or call the box office 0844 871 7607.