The Theatre Royal has opened its autumn season with a five-star production of a not well-known Noel Coward play.

Directed by Peter Hall and with magnificent sets designed by John Gunter, this is a sparkling comedy which cannot do anything but charm and delight.

The star of the show is award-winning actress Jamie Dee, surely born to play the role of interior decorator Gilda.

Dee is the personification of a Coward heroine. She is a feisty and gorgeous woman - you won't see better in just a nightie and she plays her role extremely well.

Dee is well-matched by her men, played by Hugo Speer and Aden Gillett who make superb Coward heroes in their own right.

Gilda is in a relationship with Otto (Speer), before moving on to Leo (Gillett). The three have known each other for years and each loves the other two with absolute devotion even if, at first, they don't realise it.

Speer, best known for his part in The Full Monty and seen recently as a dodgy cop in BBC 1's The Debt, dons a white tuxedo and bowtie to make his stage debut as a successful painter in Paris, New York and London.

He has picked up his stagecraft well and parades the stage full of confidence and brio.

Gillett also oozes confidence and smoothness and the two make an excellent duo, not least in a scene in which both get drunk together, which is both realistic and extremely funny.

All three main players have a mastery of the English language and diction, delivering Coward's words clearly, with zest and impact.

Design For Living can be seen at 7.45pm each evening with matinees today and Saturday at 2.30pm. For tickets call 01273 328488.