DAVID Tristram’s The Secret Lives of Henry and Alice is an absorbing little play about the perils of being married to the wrong person for too long.

Each of the spouses in question has a coping mechanism to relieve the monotony of their boring daily routines.

Both fantasise. For instance, at the start, Henry pretends to be an actor who met “Larry” Olivier. Later on he becomes a vacuum cleaner salesman, a sporting hero and acting President of the United States.

The only other imaginative thing he does is to hide his slippers simply to give housewife Alice something to do in finding them.

Alice's fantasies out-fantasise Henry’s. Among her dream characters is a romantic French waiter.

When they are themselves, their marital interactions have the audience in stitches, especially when they struggle with the deck chairs on a Welsh holiday.

Well done director Charlie Tomlinson. Praise also to Pete Grimshaw, who provides the perfectly timed upstage videos and a lovely rendering of Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head when the couple return from their hols.

There is a third character in this play. He is Orca, the goldfish ­— a very special goldfish!

What is so impressive about Dawn Flint and Steven Finney’s acting is the many different parts they take on from their world of imagination. Clothes and accents are changed at the blink of an eye.

It has always impressed me when I see actors taking on multiple roles. Dawn and Steven’s are exceptional.

Star rating: * * * *