There was a fervent buzz coming from the audience in the packed auditorium, on Tuesday, October 7.

Legendary actor Celia Imrie attended to surprise her friend Sally Ann Triplett, who played alongside her in Acorn Antiques The Musical.

Sally Ann was playing Marge in Absent Friends, which is on until Saturday, October 25, and her interpretation of the loveable character got big laughs.

In Absent Friends what should be a pleasant afternoon becomes a deliciously tense affair.

Diana organises a tea party for Colin an old friend, whose fiancée has recently died from a tragic drowning accident.

His old friends, Evelyn (Claire Lams), John (Dale Superville), Paul (Johnathan Guy Lewis), Diana (Abigail Thaw) and Marge, gather to cheer up Colin but instead their own relationship miseries are highlighted.

Diana discovers her husband, Paul, has slept with Evelyn, Marge has a hypochondriac husband while John has frosty relations with Evelyn, all of which are problems hidden with polite conversation.

These unspoken truths in the lives of Colin's friends almost become ludicrous.

Amusingly Colin is unexpectedly happy in his grief, which only fuels his friends' miseries further and there are some witty coincidences in his conversations with them.

Brigid Larmour, the theatre's chief executive and artistic director, has directed the play very stylishly.

Ian Targett, who plays Colin, said: "I imagined how a know-it-all would drive his friends to the feverish heights of madness, which Colin does in the play. I had a good time with it, much of the intricate timing was down to the direction."

There will be pre-show nibbles, 70s music and drinks for people who attended the show dressed in 70s gear, on Friday, October 10.

Tickets are available from the box office on 01923 225671 or online at www.watfordtheatre.co.uk.