"Cheshire Cats" by Bonington Players.

Bonington Theatre Arnold.

This is another new play for me, so what's it all about?

"Cheshire Cats" are a group of speed walkers, Hilary, Siobhan, Vicky, Yvonne and Maggie who are fund raising in the Moonwalk Marathon; walking thirteen miles across London in record time in their decorated bras and trainers. There is a sixth member of the group though who does not quite fit the required physical criteria for this fund raising mission!

Hilary is the bombastic team leader of the Cheshire Cats, played by Abigail Hemmings.

Siobhan is the diplomatic and caring friend of Hilary's and played by Gennie Price.

Helen Holbrook plays Vicky, an artistic and glamorous, middle aged divorcee.

Maggie is a younger mum who replaces one of the walkers at the last minute. Maggie, who always has a plaster on hand for a blister and has put herself forward to lose a few pounds, weight wise, is played by Laura Harding.

Yvonne is a stressed out, over-worked mum, and friend of Hilary's and played by Jenny Adams.

Andrew, played by Matt Davies, is the young, fit toyboy who joins the walkers to raise money and has also found love, thinly disguised as lust, but there's another reason why he is keen to take part in the moonlight walk.

The aerobics instructor is played by Ben Nipper, who also doubles as the Policeman, is great fun as he warms the ladies up with exercise routines before the walk.

The part of a handsome drunk, encountered by two of the Cats whilst on the walk, is played by Nick Hill.

Madge and Ethel are elderly, cockney marshals and are played by Karen James and Gail Tomlinson respectively, and provide even more humour as they keep the walkers' spirits up at the nine mile mark.

Other parts are played by Alex Brimelow, Carol Hill, Eddie Januszczyk, Luke Richardson and Tony Tomlinson.

Written by Gail Young, she combines all the fun of a group of girls on a night out with the sensitivity and emotion that is involved in these kind of charity walks for breast cancer. This was Gail's first full length play, written in 2005, and first performed in 2006 at the Edinburgh Fringe.

It has that lovely Fringe feel and is written with a lovely natural feel about it. The cast deliver Gail's script with the natural feel intended by the writer, making the play such an easy watch. By doing this, when certain parts in the play are reached, it makes these sections very poignant.

I feel that Gail may have been influenced by Jon Godber's "Shakers" as there are parts where the spotlight falls on our Cheshire Cats and they deliver a monologue. Sometimes comic, mostly emotional, after which the lights pan out to resume the scene leading up to the character monologue.

Directed by Chris Gardner, who has brought out that very naturalistic feel of the script through this cast. Chris is assisted by Eddie Januszczyk. Not restricting the cast to just the stage, they pop up from all parts of the theatre.

Sound, lighting and the videography is all done by David Goatham. The video design takes us from a park setting via a train station to the streets of London. The sound design is equally excellent, and adds its' own comedic side at the train station with the announcements. Peter Hodgkinson is in charge of operating the lighting.

The costumes are great fun, and provided by Carol Hill and Gail Tomlinson.

I've deliberately not picked any of the cast out for special mention because this is truly an ensemble piece and that is how the cast should be seen as an ensemble who worked together to deliver a comic play that will also tug at your heart strings.

"Cheshire Cats" is at Bonington Theatre in Arnold until Saturday 21 January.