Anton Rodgers and Angela Thorne are combining their comedic talents to appear together in Alan Ayckbourn's comedy - How The Other Half Loves - at The Belgrade Theatre from Monday 9 - Saturday 14 November.

The characters are a suburban trio of married couples linked only by the work of their husbands. Frank (Anton Rodgers) and his wife Fiona (Angela Thorne), with business subordinates Bob and William, get together with their wives for two dinner parties - each held on consecutive nights but actually happening on the stage at the same time! As with so many of Ayckbourn's hits, the clever staging provides the groundwork for some unusual goings-on and anyone watching with plenty to laugh at. By the end of what must surely be regarded as one of Ayckbourn's best, we have witnessed infidelity, unfortunate blunders and finally, utter confusion!

Renowned for his skills as a prolific playwright, Alan Ayckbourn is also the long serving Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough and the author of over 50 plays, most of which received their first performances at this theatre. His latest, Comic Potential, plays there in repertoire throughout the 1998 summer season. More than half have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or the RSC. His plays have been translated into over 30 languages, are seen on stage and television throughout the world and have won numerous awards, the most recent being the 1997 Lloyds private Banking Playwright of the year for Things We Do For Love.

Anton Rodgers' West End starring roles include Alan Ayckbourn's Time Of My Life and Norman and More's Songbook in London and on Broadway for which he received an Olivier Award. His films include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Fourth Protocol, Son of the Pink Panther and The Day of the Jackal. He has starred in numerous TV series and dramas including four series of Fresh Fields for which he won an Emmy, two series of French Fields when he was voted TV personality of the year and six series of From May to December. He is currently filming a second series of the highly successful vet drama Noah's Ark with Angela Thorne.

Angela Thorne's hugely successful career in the theatre includes starring in London in Alan Ayckbourn's Communicating Doors, Michael Palin's The Weekend, as Mrs Thatcher in Anyone For Dennis?, Body and Soul, Happy Family and A Midsummer Night's Dream. On television she starred in To The Manor Born, Farrington of the F.O., Three Up Two Down, The Good Guys, Cold Comfort, Mistral's Daughter, Paying Guests and most recently Noah's Ark with Anton Rodgers.

Directed by Alan Strachan and designed by Julian Saxton, the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre add How The Other Half Loves to their impressive portfolio of over 40 productions which have been toured nationally creating over 150 weeks of product for other theatres throughout the UK. The Yvonne Arnaud currently have a record for four productions in the West End including Ayckbourn's Things We Do For Love and Dame Edna in Edna The Spectacle.