IN these febrile days of international wars, covert communications and the popularity of The Traitors and its spin-offs, Hugh Whitemore’s 1983 play Pack of Lives will seem frighteningly relevant.

It has been chosen for the next Amateur Players of Sherborne production, directed by Adrian Harding and on stage at the APS Studio Theatre from 9th to 14th March. It is set in the home of the Jacksons, a pleasant middled-aged couple with a teenaged daughter. They are best friends with their neighbours, the Canadian Krogers.

Life goes happily and ordinarily on, until one day a detective from Scotland Yard knocks on the door and asks if he can use a room in the Jackson house as a base from which to observe “suspicious activity’ in their suburban street. Confused, they agree, but gradually the official demands increase until the detectives reveal that the Krogers are Soviet spies. The Jacksons are asked to help set a trap for their friends.

The play is based on the true story of a network of Soviet espionage active in 1960 known as the Portland Spy Ring, which threatened to undermine sensitive Royal Navy submarine research. Perhaps because it is Portland, it always seems more real to Dorset residents. At the heart of the play lies the dilemma facing ordinary people of whether or not personal bonds between friends should be stronger than bonds with the state.

The Sherborne cast is Sarah Webster and Peter Sangston as the Jacksons, with Hazel Parrett as their daughter Julie. Hilary Quinlan and Richard Culham play the Krogers, with Robert Brydges as Stewart, Alison Maynard-Griffin as Thelma and Samantha Elgar as Sally. Performances begin nightly at 7.30.