1/4HEN a comic play draws a laugh from the audience after every other line, you know you are watching a winner.

This is the case with Hull Truck Theatre's current show at the Grand Theatre - Lucky Sods. Written and directed by the hugely talented John Godber, this first ever play on our National Lottery is proving to be a great hit.

It follows the tale of a working class couple approaching middle age whose £2 million jackpot win changes their lives irreparably.

It is an interesting study into the wide range of emotions drawn by the lottery including jealousy, guilt and greed and each tense moment is broken beautifully with well-timed and well-written humour.

The second half of the play sinks from the sublime to the ridiculous with stunning exaggerations of the luck of the draw.

Stealing the show is Nicholas Lane, who plays three characters during the performance, each as cleverly funny as the next.

We first see him as the bumbling Norman, brother-in-law to the winning family, who is not too shy to drop painfully obvious hints about some of the winnings being passed his way. The smallest, subtlest movements by Lane brought a laugh every time from the audience, who lapped up his every murmur.

He also had some of the wittiest lines in the script and delivered them with great style.

In the roles of the vicar and the waiter, he stepped instantly into larger-than-live personae, again bringing delight with his every move and facial expression.

Hull Truck Theatre Company and John Godber have struck gold with this highly entertaining play which is bound to be a great hit.

Lucky Sods runs until Saturday (March 2) at the Grand Theatre and tickets are available from the Box Office on 28372.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.