Habeas Corpus – Lyceum Theatre, Oldham
“I’ve never seen anything like it since I was a locum in Liverpool.”
So declares the diminutive Sir Percy Shorter in Alan Bennett’s 1973 farcical exploration of the randy side of Little England, named after the Latin legal phrase that roughly translates to ‘have the body’.
Set in the residence of a Brighton and Hove GP, Arthur Wicksteed, the play is a saucy seaside postcard collection of characters and carry ons, each loaded with carnal frustrations and foibles.
There’s Wicksteed’s wife, the frustrated Muriel who, neglected by her husband, longs to rekindle a past dalliance with Sir Percy. Her sister, the flat-chested Constance, buys fake breasts in the hope of literally boosting her chance of romance.
The Wicksteed’s wimpish son Dennis is convinced he’s dying until his head is...