Being funny is a serious business.

COVENTRY'S Carla Mendonca is aiming to have city audiences laughing next week... by being serious.

The Exhall-born actress appears with Vicar Of Dibley and Four Weddings And A Funeral actor James Fleet in political sex comedy In The Club.

The topical comedy opens at the Belgrade Theatre for a week-long run on Monday and Carla plays the politician's girlfriend longing for a baby.

Carla, who has starred in TV shows like My Parents Are Aliens and My Dad's The Prime Minister, is best known for her comedy talents, but said: "This time I get to play the more serious role."

Carla's grandfather was a schoolteacher at Exhall Grange and she was born on school grounds. Her mother is Portuguese and the family later moved to Lisbon but Carla returned to the Midlands to study at Warwick University and still has family living in Nuneaton.

Carla, who sang with the Maisonettes in the early 80s, said: "I had a great time at university and still keep in touch with a lot of friends from those days. I used to live in Leamington in my student days and I'm actually going to be staying with friends in Warwick when I'm at the Belgrade. I'm really looking forward to it."

Tickets for In The Club are now on sale from 024 7655 3055.

CAPTION(S):

CUTIING IT... Carla Mendonca as Nicola Dawes and James Fleet as Philip Wardrobe