WHEN it comes to assembling cracking casts of local actors, director Andrew Hodgson has done it again.

Those taking part in his most recent theatrical project, Somerset Maughan's For Services Rendered, almost reads like a Who's Who of the Colchester community theatre scene.

There's Will Parrick, Charlotte Still, Sara Green, Caroline Roberts, Malcolm Kimmance and Martyn Rayner to name but just a few.

Andrew says: "There's 11 people in it altogether and I think there are a number of reasons why actors want to do it. First of all it's a real ensemble piece with lots of well drawn out characters, especially for women, and while it may be a good solid play of the period it was written in, between the wars, it does have quite a lot of modern themes."

Written in 1932, modern critics have praised Maughan's insightful, and in it's day controversial, play which lays out the lessons of The First World War across the characters that are in it.

"It's all very well looking at it in hindsight," Andrew adds, "but at the time it's quite astonishing how Maughan almost predicted the onset of The Second World War seven years before it broke out. It's also worth bearing in mind this is a very anti-war play written at a time when the country was very patriotic. It also deals with the very taboo subject, back then, of euthanasia. It's not a main plot theme but it's in there and that for me was very interesting as well."

For Services Rendered is at the Headgate Theatre, Chapel Street North, Colchester, from Wednesday, June 28, to Saturday, July 1.

Evening performances are at 7.30pm with an additional matinee at 2.30pm on the Saturday. Tickets are £12, £11 for over 65s, and £10 for students, available on-line at www.headgatetheatre.co.uk or by calling 01206 366000.