THEFT has the dabs of the television sitcom writer all over it, with Eric Chappell's comic offering having much in common with the TV works that made his name.

Probably best known for Rising Damp, Chappell also wrote Duty Free, one of the stars of which -- Joanna Van Gyseghem --appears in Theft, at Malvern Theatres.

The play begins with self-made businessman John Miles (Leslie Grantham) returning home with wife Barbara (Van Gyseghem) and friends to discover his house has been burgled.

Incandescent with rage, Miles determines to find the intruder and has no qualms about possibly exacting his own version of justice, armed with a pistol. As events unfold, various sub-plots begin to emerge, many of them telegraphed well ahead of time.

The scarcity of real surprises puts the onus on the cast to wring the humour from a less than original basic storyline and it takes a little while for the production to warm up.

Roy Hudd, as burglar Spriggs, threatens to put in a performance more in keeping with vaudeville than comedy drama but, thankfully, eventually harnesses his skills as a natural comedian to end up as the star turn.

The rest of the cast quintet cast -- including Peter Alexander and Sarah Payne as the Miles's friends -- produce functional performances, content to play second, third, fourth and fifth fiddles to Hudd.

Not a comedy classic but Theft has its moments for a fairly undemanding night's light entertainment.