Can't Pay? Won't Pay! Stoke-on-Trent Repertory Theatre

SET against a backdrop of economic hardship, rampant unemployment and political corruption, Dario Fo's farcical comedy has to contend with some very serious and highly topical issues.

This play may be set in 1970s Milan, but the themes it touches upon are just as relevant to today's recession-hit Britain.

Can't Pay? Won't Pay! focuses on the plight of working-class wives Antonia and Margherita, who find themselves caught up in an escalating campaign of civil disobedience in which poverty-stricken citizens resort to stealing the essentials which low incomes and soaring inflation have put beyond their reach.

For Antonia, a routine trip to the supermarket ends in public disorder and looting as she and dozens of other truly desperate housewives decide to liberate overpriced goods from the shelves at a rate which even Dale Winton would applaud.

But, having escaped the bumbling police, her biggest fear is concealing her petty crime from her proud and judgemental communist husband, Giovanni.

Antonia enlists the help of her somewhat scatter-brained best friend, Margherita, to try to spirit the stolen goods to a relative's allotment shed before the police close in and, more importantly, before Giovanni and Margherita's husband Luigi look under the sofa.

But their bizarre plan soon starts to unravel as they become hopelessly entangled in their own web of lies.

Fo's work portrays the two women as accidental heroines of class struggle, becoming reluctant revolutionaries while their dim spouses remain too preoccupied with political posturing to be of any real use.

Despite the heavyweight subject matter, this production certainly provides plenty of chuckles thanks to some well-choreographed slapstick moments, snappy comic dialogue and some quite amusing swearing.

The scene where the gullible and culinarily challenged husbands attempt to concoct a meal from stolen dog food and bird seed was among the highlights.

Supporting actor Martin Alcock deserves praise for his many roles, and accents, and his knack of slipping in and out of character to great comic effect.

The only minor niggles were the present-day political references, which were probably to be expected, but weren't really necessary because, sadly, the subject matter is still so current.

Can't Pay? Won't Pay! runs until Saturday, with performances at 7.30pm daily, as well as a 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Contact the box office on 01782 209784.

Iain Robinson