This dark comedy by Del Shores isn't quite as over the top as it's billed by the Hong Kong Players, who picked the fun, yet thoughtful production to launch the 2005 season.

There are many moments of hilarity, but Sordid Lives also takes a sober look at deep-rooted family values, social beliefs (especially in America's Deep South) and discrimination.

Set in Texas, the play (directed by Lucas Cox) centres on the dysfunctional Ingram family. Matriarch Grandma Peggy (Priscilla Jones) has just died, after tripping over a pair of wooden legs left on the floor by her young lover G.W. Nethercroft (Rob Archibald).

The news is badly received by the family. Her valium pill-popping sister Sissy Hickey (Amica Sanday), who has just given up smoking, is soon reaching for her cigarettes when the cheated wife, Noeleta (Jewel Turner), comes running to her for help and advice.

Her righteous daughter Latrelle (Cindy Bayne) chooses to live in denial and fails to come to terms with the affair - or that both her son Ty (Lucas Rockwood) and brother Earl 'Brother Boy' (Stephen Bolton) are gay.

The drama reaches its climax at Grandma Peggy's funeral.

Sordid Lives is a refreshing choice for the Hong Kong Players, whose past works include such classics as Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate and Noel Coward's Private Lives , as well as various pantos, including Alice! and Cinderella. This group delivers every time.

There were solid performances from Sanday, Bayne and Amanda Chapman (as daughter LaVonda). Marc Trimbee and Anne-Louise McWilliam were both hilarious in their support roles, as the repenting Wardell 'Bubba' Owen (Earl's childhood crush) and the lusty Dr Eve Bolinger. Rockwood and Bolton steered clear of over-the-top stereotypes and handled their characters with sensitivity.