THE touching tale of Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green Park Bench is brought to the Palace theatre with a few familiar faces.

Ruth Madoc plays one of the women, whilst others include Carol Cleveland and Una McLean, who have either lost love, seen it destroyed or its been abused.

Set on a simple stage with just two benches, a rubbish bin and an overhanging tree the play brings together the women over a succession of days.

They laugh at each other and tell raucous tales of living the high-life, but at other times you gain an insight into their fears and pain often handled with some great one-liners.

Written by John A. Penzotti he gained inspiration for the play from walking through Washington Square Park, in New York, listening and watching the older people who sat at the same park bench day after day.

And it is this keen observation of people, which ensures each character has a particular trait that is finally challenged when the play moves into its second act.

Here we are taken to a different location, but the same park, and it is here that the five blue haired ladies get a chance to put things straight and find out why things went wrong.

This is a gentle play that will touch both men and women and is likely to give you something to ponder on over the following days.

The Palace Theatre, Manchester, until Saturday. Tel: 0870 401 6000.