VISITORS to Lancaster's Dukes Theatre can experience a hilarious play pairing Eastern European literature with a 1970s kitchen sink drama this month.

Kafka's Dick, by Alan Bennett, opens on an austere stage with a timid Franz Kafka (played by Justin Shevlin) contemplating his mortality and asking his eccentric friend Max Brod (Andonis Anthony) to burn all his works after his death.

Thus we are transported to 1970s Leeds with insurance clerk-cum-Kafka expert Sydney (played by John Biggins) researching the life of his hero and dispensing dull facts to his frustrated wife Linda, played by Sherry Baines, who gazes from the window dreaming of a better life. The excitement comes when a knock on the door reveals a reincarnated Max Brod, basking in his fame as Kafka's biographer after ignoring his friends book-burning request.

A princess and frog moment leads to Kafka himself emerging from the shell of the family tortoise, blissfully unaware of his status as one of the giants of 20th century literature.

Kafka's Dick is a comedy that is not afraid to treat its audience with intelligence and the juxtaposition between 1920s high literature and 1970s suburban Leeds throws up some hilarious situations, particularly when Sidney and Max go to extraordinary lengths to conceal Max's betrayal of his friend.

Some of the biggest laughs of the play are reserved for Father (played by Tony Broughton), who lives in fear of being taken away by social services and drifts dolefully from scene to scene throughout the play. Ultimately, Kafka's Dick is a play about relation-ships, including that between Max Brod, a gloriously over-the-top bundle of lascivious energy, and Linda; and between Kafka and his manipulative father (played by Gerry Hinks), who cruelly threatens to reveal his darkest secret.

Kafka's Dick runs until February 28. For details, call 01524-598500.