Chocs away as duo head home.

Comedy writers Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood were due back in Newcastle last night after a trip Down Under.

The pair, who have collaborated on a string of 10-gag-a-minute comedy dramas, were invited to speak at the New Zealand playwrights' conference which takes place every two years.

Their trip coincided with the opening of their play Waiting For Gateaux at the Fortune Theatre in the city of Dunedin where it was due a three-week run before embarking on a lightning tour of South Island.

The Fortune Theatre is run by Janice Marthen who ran the Gala Theatre in Durham for a while. According to Trevor, Janice asked about the possibility of staging another Waugh/Wood play, Dirty Dusting, at the Fortune.

This proved not to be possible but instead they offered her Waiting For Gateaux. This was more appropriate than they could have imagined.

Dunedin happens to be the home of Cadbury's chocolate in New Zealand and the play, with its food theme, became the focal point for the Cadbury's Dunedin Chocolate Festival. According to Ed and Trevor, Cadbury bigwigs from across Australia and South East Asia were due to fly in to witness a performance. Let's hope they found it to their taste. Waiting For Gateaux, like all Waugh/Wood plays so far, premiered at the Customs House, South Shields. It proved so popular that it was back four months later for a second run.

A few minor amendments were required for the New Zealand staging, say Ed and Trevor. The play is set just after New Year in England with snow lying on the ground.

You wouldn't expect snow at that time in New Zealand. But the jokes worked just as well, according to the pair who, as a special favour, asked their hosts to locate pubs for them where England's World Cup matches could be viewed in congenial circumstances.

Dirty Dusting, meanwhile, is due for an Australian tour next year ( excuse, perhaps, for another Waugh/Wood long-haul flight.

The pair have plenty of other irons in the fire at present. They are working on a film project with Ipso Facto and they have also written a sitcom. Meanwhile there's a play of a political nature waiting in the wings which has already won the approval of maverick film-maker Ken Loach and musician Billy Bragg. More of this one later.

* What is the future of popular drama in the North-East?

The answer to that question will be provided tomorrow by Michael Chaplin, former Journal reporter and TV executive and now a highly successful TV writer (he devised Monarch of the Glen and brought the recent Pickles: The Dog that Won the World Cup to the small screen).

Recently appointed visiting professor at the University of Sunderland, he is to give a talk called "Who's pointing the camera? The North-East in film and television drama".

He will reflect on how the North-East has been represented in film and TV over the years and how this might change in the future.

The free talk will take place at 6.30pm tomorrow at the university's Media Centre Cinema at St Peter's Campus.