A BATTLE between the conservative old guard and the radical thinkers of the left is set to explode on to Dorchester's dramatic scene when the county town's drama society stages Ten Times Table next week.

The Ayckbourne classic is set in a quiet village where plans are afoot to stage a pageant celebrating the lost-in-the-mists-of-time story of The Massacre of the Pendleton Twelve.

Pageant

But the pageant committee is divided between the starchy right - personified by the chairman's wife - and the radical left in the form of a teacher with plans to turn the project into a rally for proletarian revolution.

Tempers flare and events get a little out-of-hand, leading to police intervention - but the resulting, misleading air of calm is threatened by thoughts of a new pageant, the story of the Romans vs the Britons . . .

Director Chris Shaw said: "I particularly like Ayckbourne and this is one of my favourite plays so I really wanted to so it. We read for it last spring but couldn't do it then, so it's a wonderful opportunity to put it on now.

"Apart from anything else, the pageant story had marvellous parallels with the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

"It is also set in the Swan Hotel, which looks out on to the market square and high street - and we are playing in the Corn exchange which . . . looks out on to the market square and the high street. It's perfect!"

Rehearsals are progressing, although the sheer size of the cast list caused a few initial problems.

"It has a big cast so we are pretty stretched as some of our members are doing the community play as well, but I'm pleased to say it's going well," says Christine.

"Three years ago we did Ayckbourne's Round and Round the Garden in a garden out in the Piddle Valley, and that did extremely well so it's great to be doing this one now."

The cast list reads like a roll call of the county town's top thespians - Kath Batten plays the chairman's wife Helen, with Peter Hutton as her long-suffering husband, Ray, Mike Morgan is Eric, the left-wing academic. The other main actors include Ann Ottway, Monica Hunt, Graham Shaw, Shaun Farrell, Martin Ansell and Elaine Jacknelle.

Alan Ayckbourne is renowned for scripting plays that have a subtle, hidden depth, despite their apparently light-hearted surface.

"There is a very fine line between tragedy and comedy," explains Chris.

Sadness

"Although this play is a riot at times there are one or two sad moments that really bring you up sharp.

"There is the underlying story as well as the one that's going on up on the stage. It will make the audience think."

Ten Times Table can be seen at Dorchester Corn Exchange from next Thursday until November 24 with performances at 7.30pm on the Thursday and Friday and 8pm on the Saturday. Tickets cost £6 in advance, £7 on the door and are available from the Music Box, Princes Street, Dorchester, or by calling (01305) 816024.