IT may be November, but East Essex Players’ latest production is Third Week in August.

The fast-moving comedy is set in a caravan park. The time, as the title suggests, is the height of the summer vacation season. A varied group of characters, all with their own particular reason to escape their regular lives, descends on the campsite.

Each in turn falls into the clutches of the site know-it-all Neville (John Onslow). This would-be camp commandant purports to be an expert on every aspect of caravanning, though all he really understands are the camp rules and regulations.

When Neville sets out to bump up community spirit with a camp barbecue, the scene is set for comic pyrotechnics.

Any member of the audience still dreaming of summer holidays may feel differently by the end of the show, and perhaps even relieved to be stuck in the middle of winter.

Other characters include Neville’s long-suffering wife Mary (Shirley Wolfe), who has developed appalling personality traits as a result of being married to Neville, and Sue (Ciara Gabbitas), a writer, who has misguidedly come to the camp in search of the peace and quiet she needs to write her magnum opus. The parts are played by seasoned East Essex actors.

Third Week in August is by Peter Gordon, one of the most popular playwrights when it comes to amateur performance on both sides of the Atlantic. Gordon specialises in comedies which involve farcical chaos descending on to ordinary settings.

Typical are Slim Chance, about the havoc wrought on dieters when their slimming club threatens to go out of business, and Out of Focus, set in a church hall which has been triple booked.

Director Jim Wolfe says: “Like all Peter Gordon’s comedies, this is a skilfully written play with a cast of funny and instantly recognisable characters, mounting to a delicious comic climax.”

Third Week in August, Palace Theatre (Dixon Studio), Westcliff, tomorrow until Saturday, at 7.45pm nightly and matinee Saturday at 2.45pm. Tickets cost £11.50/£10.50. 01702 351135.