THE Marco Players' next production will be the classic Ray Cooney farce Run for your Wife. The comedy will be staged at Chorley Old Road Methodist Community Church from February 19 to 22 at 7.30 pm.

And the play marks the start of an ambitious year for the company, which aims to end the season with something completely different . . .

In June, the Players will stage the amateur premier of the mammoth two-part, five hour long Revengers' Comedies by Alan Ayckbourn.

It will feature 23 characters, 14 actors, and one play cut into two parts, playing on alternate evenings during the week.

Not only will this be the first time Marco Players will have performed for a full week, but the audience will have the opportunity to watch two nights entertainment for the price of one.

Before then, however, rehearsals are now underway for Run For Your Wife.

The story revolves around John Smith -- a London Cabbie, with his own taxi, a wife in Streatham, a wife in Wimbledon...and a knife-edge schedule!

By strict adherence to this schedule, he has been a successful, if tired, bigamist for three years. But one day, gallantly intervening in a mugging, he is taken to hospital with mild concussion. In the ensuing complications, aided by an unwilling Stanley, John tries bravely to cope with a succession of well meaning but prying policemen, the press, two increasingly irate wives and a very flamboyant neighbour. Events increasingly spiral frantically out of control in this perfect example of British farce...

Cast members in rehearsal are: Peter Haslam, Alan Macpherson, Lorraine Kenny, Gail Roberts, Phil Ward, David Holt, Mick Tonge and Michael Hodgson. The play is being directed by Alan Macpherson.

Rehearsals for The Revengers' Comedies begin shortly after Run For Your Wife ends. The play is loosely styled after one of the Ayckbourn's favourite films, Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. It is a black comedy featuring the story of swapped revenges. Exact details of performances during the run from June 14 to 21 will be announced nearer the time.

Tickets for Run For Your Wife are available on Bolton 840824 or 848935.