Following Art in 2006 and Heroes last year, Drip Action is delighted to present An Hour and a half Late by Gerald Sibleyras and Jean Dell, translated from the French by Patty Hannock – at The Chapel Barn, South Stoke.

Drip Action's production will be directed by Paul Ward starring Drip Action founder and artistic director Bill Brennan (Gustave in Heroes) and Audrey Lee, (Festival Theatre Trail writer and actress).

"I like to keep my eye open for French plays," says Bill.

"There is a magazine that I can get to find out what is happening in Paris, and we are always looking for things that people won't have seen before."

The result should offer a nice counterpoint, Bill believes, to Drip Action's production of Simon Brett's A Healthy Grave last April, a sharply-observed piece exploring truths and discovering secrets in a long-established marriage – though this time a la Française.

In the play, five minutes of candid conversation, just before leaving for a dinner party, launches the lives of a husband and wife into crisis and anarchy.

Will normality return before the meal is ruined?

"It's a two-hander," Bill explains.

"It's about a couple coming up to retirement. The story is that they are just about to go out to dinner, and the wife refuses to go and for the next hour and a half they discuss their marriage, and we try to find out why she has put her foot down and decided not to go to this dinner engagement."

Bill is hoping it's a piece which will offer audiences a few resonances at the company's mid-summer home at South Stoke.

"It is such a beautiful setting and it makes an interesting change. The Chapel Barn is a lovely space for performing.

"People like to come along and have picnics and we are providing a bit of free finger food this year as well. It's like Glyndebourne without the frocks and the music!"

Performances are from June 17-20 at 8pm at Chapel Barn, South Stoke, near Arundel.

Tickets: £9 (£5 students) available from the Tourist Information Centre, Crown Yard, Arundel (01903 882268) or email dripactioninfo@btinternet.com to reserve your tickets.

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