IF you're venturing out on a cold winter's evening, there has to be a juicy carrot and Opera Della Luna provided the delectation.

Eagerly anticipating a slick performance, waggish script and mellifluous singing I was again impressed by the cast of eight working as a team to produce this full scale operetta by Franz Lehar.

An insouciant and profligate Count Danilo (Trevor Jary) stubbornly refuses to marry the common wealthy widow Hanna ( Rhona McKail) who does not "do posh".

The counter-plot with flirtatious Valencienne (Angela Simkin) and lovelorn Camille (Gareth Dafydd Morris) becomes enmeshed with the main characters and the whole is fortuitously masterminded by the Baron (Graham Hoadly) and Njegus (Adam Price).

As a team they were brilliant. The first act lacked fizz and pace but was redeemed with harmonic barbershop singing and the full-size puppet-doll partners in the waltz scene.

Acts two and three delivered the paciness and sparkle for which this group are renowned.

The whole show was almost upstaged in the Entr'acte between acts two and three as Njegus and two companions erected a curtain for a false staging in silent film mode with only gestures and facial expressions.

Returning to sanity with a touchingly gentle duet between Hanna and Danilo, the jigsaw pieces of the plot were manipulated to a suitable conclusion.

What glorious fun, ingenious staging, accomplished singing and acting from the whole team. Not just a carrot but a huge dose of Vitamin C. Jill Bacon