City of Angels

The play, whose title is a reference to Los Angeles, is a spoof of the private eye movies of the 1940s.

The story follows Stine, a fiction writer in Hollywood trying to adapt his own detective novel into a screenplay, driven by Hollywood producer Buddy Fiddler who holds the purse strings and has the final editorial say-so.

As the action begins, we meet Stone, Stine's detective, who is in hospital with a bullet wound. As Stone relates the story of his injury, Stine begins to rewrite his story. As he rewrites, the "movie" is rewound and the actors move and speak backwards.

The cast of City of Angels is divided into two groups - the Hollywood cast and the film cast, a distinction Jems will achieve with clever lighting and costumes.

Each character from Stine's real life reappears as a character in his film and the film sequences take place in a world of blacks, whites and greys, while the Hollywood sequences consist of "living colours".

Tuesday to Saturday, July 31. Performance: 7.30pm. Tickets: from £5. Box office: 01794 512987.

Jems Theatre, Plaza Theatre, Romsey