SEX is the ruling passion for characters in Dorchester Amateur Dramatic Society’s latest production.

The society’s members will perform playwright Alan Bennett’s adult comedy Habeas Corpus at Dorchester village hall from tonight until Saturday, at 7.45pm.

First performed in 1973 and set in a doctor’s surgery in Hove, the two-act farce pokes fun at the medical profession and the ‘permissive’ society with a number of character stereotypes — including a randy GP, his sex-starved wife and their spotty hypochondriac son, a know-it-all charlady, a flat-chested spinster, a deviant cleric, a colonial matriarch and her over-sexed daughter, and a pompous BMA chairman.

All of them are forced into complicated and compromising situations with the arrival of a breast-enhancement fitter from Leatherhead and a manic-depressive patient determined to commit suicide.

Director Geoff Russell said: “What’s so good about Alan Bennett plays is they are not only beautifully written, but also plotted with an acute understanding of all human weakness.

“There are moments of high comedy, but there is pathos too.

“All 11 characters have great lines to deliver and what has made this production so enjoyable is that even after hearing those lines delivered many times during our rehearsals, we all still find them incredibly amusing.”

He added: “I am confident that this will be one of DADS’ most entertaining shows.

“The cast includes some excellent actors who are appearing with us for the first time and others who are taking on very different roles from past performances. My message is: ‘Don’t miss it!’”

Tickets at £6 for the opening night and £7 for all the others are available from Dorchester post office, Aisha Stores, Warborough, or Lucie Hall on 01865 340384.