Defining a common set of actions ?

Collective,
I have a problem using the | operator in procmail.
My setup (procmailrc)
:0
* some test
| procmail  -p $HOME/dir/rc.action
:0
* some other test
| procmail  -p $HOME/dir/rc.action

$HOME/dir/rc.action contains :
:0 Whc: vacation.lock
   | (formail -r ... )  | $SENDMAIL -oi -t 
:0
  $DEFAULT

But, instead of recursively being processed, selected mails are saved to
a folder called "| procmail -p $HOME/dir/rc.action" !

The idea is to have a common answer to more than one test. What did I wrong ? 
Any other alternative  ? Does the new invocation inherit from all
variables set in the parent ? Could I put the string 
"| procmail  -p $HOME/dir/rc.action" into some variable ?
Thanks in advance

Pascal A. Dupuis
--
K:      Cobalt's metal, hard and shining;
        Cobol's wordy and confining;
        KOBOLDS topple when you strike them;
        Don't feel bad, it's hard to like them.
                -- The Roguelet's ABC