A BARREL of laughs were to be had over the weekend as Felixstowe's 52nd annual drama festival kicked off – and there's more to be had over the week.The Thurrock Courts Players romped through John Godber's comedy farce Gym & Tonic on Saturday – in which a couple try to rescue their marriage while relaxing at a health spa.

By James Fraser

A BARREL of laughs were to be had over the weekend as Felixstowe's 52nd annual drama festival kicked off – and there's more to be had over the week.

The Thurrock Courts Players romped through John Godber's comedy farce Gym & Tonic on Saturday – in which a couple try to rescue their marriage while relaxing at a health spa.

On Sunday, the subject matter took a darker turn as Kytes Theatre Group staged Bold Girls by Rona Munro. In this piece three women live their lives as normally as possible after their menfolk have killed or imprisoned during the troubles in Belfast.

Tonight Alan Ayckbourn's Taking Steps will be performed by the Wortham & Redgrave Theatre Workshop at 7.30pm

Tickets are £6.50 adults and £5.50 for children and students, available from the Spa box office on 01394 282126.

And it is time for laughter again this week as the New Wolsey's Pulse Festival gets ready to welcome in a line-up of comedy theatre.

First up is Manly Truelove's Theatrical Anecdotes on Thursday, presented by The Predictable Pig Theatre Co, it is a one man show, written and performed by Darren Gooding.

The play has been such a success on its tour it has since been offered a three-week slot at the Gilded Balloon during this summer's Edinburgh Festival.

Before heading north of the border, however, The Predictable Pig Theatre Company will return to the New Wolsey to close the Pulse Festival on June 22 with a premiere of Mexabralia T.O. Bangralore.

Performed by writers Damien Bell, Allan Cooke and Darren Gooding it centres on three men who have abandoned their fictional countries - Bangralore, Mexabralia and T.O. (Technocratic Oligarchy) - in search of a better life in another.

Theatre Diary

IPSWICH, New Wolsey (01473 295900):.Love & Peace, tomorrow. Manly True Love's Theatrical Anecdotes, June 6. Duck Variations, June 7,8. Home is Where the Hurt Hides, June 11. College Boy, June 12. Scorzone, June 13. High Voltage 2, DanceEast showcase, June 14, 15. InToTo Dance, contemporary dance, June 17. A Night of Serious Comedy, June 18. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett's magic adapted for stage, June 19, 20. Fish Naked and the Carer, over-18 look at carer's life, June 21. Mexibralia TO Bangralore, deranged new comedy, June 22

IPSWICH, Regent (01473 433100): Co-op Juniors Jubilee Showtime, June 5 to 8. Shaolin Monks, June 13.

BURY, Theatre Royal (01284 769505): Peter Rabbit and his Friends, June 5 to 8. Ricochet Dance, multi-media dance, June 11. The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespearean ballet, June 12. The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart's opera set in Edwardian England, June 13, 14.

FELIXSTOWE, Spa Pavilion (01394 282126): Cuckoo (Debenham Plyrs), June 5, The Odd Couple (female version with Parkside Plyrs), June 6, Cider with Rosie (Cardiff Plyrs), June 7, Out of Order (Deben Plyrs), June 8. Annie Get Your Gun, whipcrackin' musical, June 12 to June 15. Raymond Froggatt, country singer, June 16.

STOWMARKET, Regal Theatre (01449 612825): Portrait of Dorian Gray, June 12.

SUDBURY Quay (01787 374745): Portrait of Dorian Gray, June 14,15.

ON TOUR: Christchurch Mansion lawn, Ipswich, The Hypochondriac, al fresco Moliere, June 7 - for tickets call the Regent Box Office.