“. . . Wink Taylor is right in his element playing Kenneth Williams. He is an extraordinary and impressive impressionist and has the voice, mannerisms and persona off to a tee. . . Messrs Taylor and Barton are to be congratulated on SERIOUSLY FUNNY for their writing, insight and performances. Iain Barton’s performance as Hancock was sympathetic and sensitive while Wink Taylor’s Kenneth Williams was almost as good as the real thing.”

” . . . All the performances were superlative and impossible to fault. Jonathan Guy Lewis was painful to watch as a man destroying himself and all those around him, craving the respect which he no longer deserves . . . Michael Brandon, as the lawyer Alfieri, tells the story and takes part in the action. He brings a calm authority and sanity to the proceedings but his entreaties are unable to remove Eddie’s finger from the self-destruct button . . . this is a must-see, tour-de-force play with some outstanding performances.”

“. . . One of the plays, THE JUDGE, I really enjoyed, two of them, THE AGENT and THE STAR, were perfectly entertaining and one, THE POLITICIAN, was a bit of a daft comedy of errors. THE NOVELIST we didn’t get to see. On the whole, the acting was good but the outstanding performance, despite a silly wig, came from Russell Dixon as Tom, the retired judge. His mischievously lecherous old man who had hired a call-girl to impersonate his long-dead wife was great fun and a delight to watch . . . If you are a loyal Ayckbourn fan then Roundelay will not disappoint . . . ”

I must confess to never having seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, nor Jesus Christ Superstar, nor Hair. Never having been a hippy was maybe one reason, although I did have some trousers of many colours, if that counts. It was perhaps those three shows, more than anything, that opened the way to the new, blockbuster musicals that have dominated the West End and Broadway ever since. Without them we would have had no Evita, no Les Mis, no Miss Saigon, no Phantom of the Opera et al.