THE author of The Rep's next production was in the pop charts in 1975.

Which effectively rules out most of the playwrights whose works are presented by the company.

The writer in question is Mike Harding, whose novelty song The Rochdale Cowboy got to No 22 in 1975.

Harding is now often referred to as The Rochdale Cowboy, although he's come a long way since 1975.

Comedian, folk singer, poet, radio presenter, rambler and steam enthusiast, he is also the man who wrote Fur Coat And No Knickers, which will be The Rep's first show of 2012.

"It's the perfect remedy for January blues," says director Alan Clarke.

A fun-packed romp to jolt everyone out the post-festive torpor, Fur Coat And No Knickers is Harding's hilarious account of a disastrous northern wedding.

"It was written in the early 1980s, but set in the 1970s, and reflects the humour of that time," says Alan.

"It's not what you'd call subtle, although some have construed it as social satire, but there are laughs all the way through."

In Fur Coat And No Knickers, the down-to-earth Ollerenshaws are marrying into the social climbing Greenhalgh family.

Deirdre Ollernshaw (Samantha Rushton) is to become Mrs Mark Greenhalgh (Rory Poole).

While her parents are solidly working class, Mark's father is a successful businessman and councillor, although his mother's aspirations to gentility fail to disguise her humble roots.

Family rivalry, stag night scandals, a delinquent pensioner and an inflatable wedding guest add up to the most chaotic of nuptials.

"It's an outrageously farcical comedy that offers laughs and naughtiness in equal measure," says Alan.

Richard Vernon, James Lawton, Mike Johnson and Jane Procter are the Ollerenshaw clan, while the Greenhalghes are played by Howard Goodall and Jane Hodson.

Others in the cast of wellknown players are Brian Rawlins, James Freeman, Keith Williams, Christine Birks, Karen Hare and

Holly Sanders.

Fur Coat And No Knickers is at The Stoke-on-Trent Repertory Theatre, Shelton, from January 23 to 28 at 7.30pm. For details, call 01782 209784.