Dead Funny, York Theatre Royal, April 6 to 27

THE English or, more specifically, Englishmen, have an obsession with being in the safe cocoon of clubs and societies. So believes Damian Cruden, York Theatre Royal's artistic director, who is at the helm of a new production of Dead Funny, Terry Johnson's comic study of the Dead Funny Society, whose members meet to mourn the death of one of their heroes, Benny Hill.

"The English are obsessed with the absolutely specialised notion of the club and the society, to the extent that they use them as an excuse not to engage in real life or as a way to be secure in a world they know everything about, be it Benny Hill, Frankie Howerd or whoever.

"The point Johnson makes is that, quite simply, this is a diversion from their real lives and to live through such an obsession can be dangerous."

In Dead Funny, Benny Hill's death sparks a series of revelations that spirals out of control in a typically-British comedy of sex, lies and custard pies as Johnson analyses the English way with friendships, sexual relationships and humour.

"It may be set when Benny Hill died but I feel this play has great depth and will always have relevance because it's not about him but relationships," says Damian, who believes membership of clubs and societies is a means of "filling time".

"It's about having a sense of purpose in your life. As we're not a society of philosophers any more and we're no longer particularly fascinated by political or liturgical debate, we're removed from the broader issues of life," he says. "Just when we thought that, after the Second World War, we were getting a voice in politics, we've found ourselves being further and further removed from it."

Damian has a gut feeling that more men than women will be members of such societies as the Dead Funny Society. "Though I'll get shot for saying this," he says, with a smile spreading across his face, "It's something to enable them to get out of the house. Men are not overly-emotional and literate, so they express themselves with this obsessive behaviour that fills in time so they don't have to engage in things that should be more important.

"Why is a record collection more important to them than sexual relations or the relationship with the family, when they know that if those relationships seize up there will be problems? You have to keep working at those relationships."

Damian, who by the way, strikes a healthy balance between theatre and family commitments, takes his point further. "I am sure that for men hobbies are affairs and affairs are a hobby to take them out of the house," he says.

Naturally, he is keen to draw men - and women - from the sitting room and into the theatre for the new Theatre Royal spring and summer season, which opens with Dead Funny's run from next Saturday to April 27.

This co-production with the Bolton Octagon Theatre - a partnership that has borne such ripe fruit already this year with John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men - will star Robin Hooper, best known for his role as Malcolm in the hit BBC comedy The Office. It also marks the return of Johnson's play to the Theatre Royal, where Dead Funny was staged on its premiere tour in October 1996.

Dead Funny, York Theatre Royal, April 6 to 27 at 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm on April 20 and 25. No performances on April 7, 14, 15, 21 and 22. Tickets: £8 to £16, with concessions available. For Dead Funny and new season bookings, ring 01904 623568.

Updated: 08:42 Friday, March 29, 2002