THE ever-reliable comic touch applied to productions at the Mill at Sonning guarantees blissful escapist fun for audiences as its sparkling revival of Robin Hawdon’s Perfect Wedding.

Though updated by the company to the present day, the play dates back to the dawn of the Millennium at which time it was still the norm for a bridegroom’s stag party to be held the night before the wedding, with all the hazards this entailed.

He might have woken bleary-eyed on the day of the nuptials to find, for instance, he was chained to the railings in Hyde Park or on the wrong side of the English Channel.

For bridegroom Bill (Rikki Lawton) the wake-up presents him with the alarming - although most definitely alluring - spectacle of a woman (Carla Freeman) previously unknown to him slumbering beside him in the hotel bed.

Who is she? How did she get there? And what have they been up to together? The last question is the one, of course, most easily answered, or at any rate guessed at.

But ‘Judy’ is in no hurry to enlighten him over the other matters, which presents the audience with an intriguing puzzle as we laugh fit to bust over the impeccably timed comic business.

Since the hotel in question - a lavish job, splendidly presented by designer Tony Eden - is to be the focus of the celebrations, it can be confidently predicted that bride Rachel (Lucy Heath) will soon be on the scene with questions of her own.

Indeed she duly arrives, but not before the appearance of best man Tom (Joseph Timms) who is, of course, enlisted to assist in Bill’s extraction from the doo-doo he has created.

The many deceptions - brilliantly managed under director Ron Aldridge - soon come to involve a much- put-upon chambermaid - Finty Williams on top comic form - with a name, Julie, conveniently close to that of the mystery girl.

This is the Mill at its best. Don’t miss.

Until November 18. 0118 969 8000, millatsonning.com

CHRISTOPHER GRAY 4/5