A Trio of Tonys -- The Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society -- Daylesford Theatre, Dundonald Street, Hamilton.

*** It seems that Tony Hancock is pretty much unheard of in Bermuda but, even though he's been dead for more than 30 years, his name is still held in nostalgic affection in his native UK, synonymous with the days when Empire was not a dirty word and everyone spoke with a BBC accent.

Or at least that's the case if you're my parents' age or older, if you can remember the Anderson shelter in the back garden and what 2/6d meant in new money - those halcyon days when smoking cigarettes was good for you and everybody looked like Bing Crosby.

People who listened to Hancock on their `wirelesses' (if they were lucky to have one in their street) did so wearing tank tops and Brylcream, huddled around the huge, throbbing, cosey set with the whole family while the rain belted down outside -- in the days when a radio occupied the space of half a house and took a couple of hours to warm up.

Okay, I might be dating Hancock a bit but, for someone born in the mid 60s and who was just about out of nappies when the great man decided to cash in his chips, I'm afraid the `comic genius' (a phrase that's sprayed around with far too much frequency nowadays) of Hancock completely passed me by.

Sure, I'd seen dozens of clips from his television series but they just reinforced images of what Britain was like in the late 50s and early 60s for someone who wasn't there -- cold, bleak, grainy and depressing - a life in black and white. Comedy wasn't invented until the mid 70s was it? Did people really know how to laugh before Monty Python? Not being a fan of Hancock, it was definitely a case of business rather than pleasure as I headed for the Daylesford Theatre on Monday evening.

What's more, the BMDS had pulled the rug from underneath me by kindly explaining that "this is a workshop production staged with the aim of giving new people a chance to explore their talents''.

Tremendous -- two hours of amateur thesps acting out three scripts from some quaint, gentle and very dated old duffer who's been dead for 30 years -- and no chance of mowing down a couple of poncey Prima Donnas in the process.

Hancock's humour couldn't possibly transport itself, both in distance and time, to a Bermudian stage in 1999 could it? I should have known better. I've only ever seen one other BMDS production and it turned out to be great fun.

Monday night was no different.

For starters, seeing three complete episodes of Hancock's Half Hour television series performed on the stage allowed for a greater appreciation of the character that Hancock created. Snobbish, pompous, arrogant, absurd, pretentious, bafoonish but paradoxically warm and likable -- like an annoying uncle who turns up bearing plenty of prezzies. It made me realise that I hadn't seen dozens of clips of his shows before -- just the same one over and over again. The wider picture made me realise what I'd been missing.

The dialogue wasn't quaint or gentle, it was sharp and observant, wry and witty. Dated in parts perhaps, but that only made the show more enduring.

As for the cast, their performances were as strong as anything else I've seen in a Bermudian theatre. Sure, there were one or two weak links in the supporting cast, the odd amateurish slip-up, but this is only to be expected from an amateur team. More significantly, everyone displayed a great deal of confidence on stage -- a tribute perhaps to the scripts. Nikki Durrant -- stepping into the shoes of Sid James as `Sid' -- is a natural, very relaxed and with no hint of self consciousness (even when she got tongue-tied on one line). If this was her first experience of acting it didn't show.

I'm not sure if casting three different actors to play the lead in each of the three episodes was a good idea. Perhaps taking centre stage for the whole 90 plus minutes might have been a bit much for one actor to tackle.

Nevertheless, it also leads to the audience making comparisons between the three. Unfair perhaps -- they were all very good -- but also inevitable.

For me, while John Thomson has the better lines and performed brilliantly in "The Blood Donor'', Tony Forster in "The Last Bus Home'' is more faithful to the original Hancock character, both in his appearance and delivery.

Sets, props and special effects are kept to a bare minimum through the three performances. This was good thinking on the part of Ora Bainbridge and the rest of the production team as it allowed Alan Simpson and Ray Galton's wonderful writing to shine through.

The show runs every night this week until Saturday. The curtain rises at 8 p.m. with tickets -- a snip at just $10 - on sale at the theatre from 7 p.m.

Monday night was sold out but if you do have the chance to go, then do. If you're a die-hard Hancock anorak you'll enjoy it. If you've never heard of Tony Hancock before you might just enjoy it even more. Charming, stuff.

Gareth Finighan THEATRE REVIEW THR