NEWPORT Playgoers' 80th anniversary season at the Dolman Theatre ends as it began, with a rip-roaring comedy from a master of the art.

The season began back in September with Private Lives, a classic from Noel Coward, and climaxes in June with Plaza Suite, the hilarious work of Neil Simon.

Simon is probably most famous for The Odd Couple but in Plaza Suite his wit and comic brilliance are well in evidence.

The play is set, as its name suggests, in the Plaza Hotel in New York, and in three distinct acts three couples are shown enduring various crises in the same suite of rooms.

In the first act a couple attempt to spend some 'quality time' together with a distinct lack of success, the second deals with the relationship between a 'star' meeting a former and now very 'starstruck' friend, and the final act sees a desperate father and mother attempting to persuade their daughter out of the bathroom and into the waiting arms of her bridegroom.

"The scenes are about rediscovering passion, finding the grass isn't always greener and life's turning points," said Terri Wiltshire, who is directing an experienced cast of players.

"It's achingly funny in places and we're looking forward to hearing audiences' reactions."

Plaza Suite is being sponsored by the Monmouthshire Building Society, and is at the Dolman Theatre in Newport's Kingsway from June 14-19. Performances start at 7.15pm, except Friday when curtain up is at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the Visitors' Centre in Newport Library, John Frost Square, or from the box office at the theatre in Kingsway on the night.