A recent West End hit, the classic Ealing black comedy The Ladykillers was adapted for the stage by Graham Linehan, writer of Father Ted and the IT Crowd.
And now The Frayed Knot Theatre Company is presenting it at The Court Theatre in Tring for four nights this month.
The story revolves around Mts Wilberforce, a sweet and eccentric old widow who lives alone with her raucous parrot General Gordon in a gradually subsiding house built over the entrance to a railway tunnel in Kings Cross, London.
With nothing to occupy her time and an active imagination she is a frequent visitor to the local police station.
There she reports fanciful suspicions regarding neighbourhood activities.
Having led wild-goose chases in the past, she is humoured by the officers who give her reports no credence whatsoever.
But then suddenly she finds herself in the midst of a real crime when a band of villains rent rooms in her lopsided house while they plan a sophisticated security van robbery at Kings Cross railway station.
As a cover the leader of the gang, ‘Professor Marcus’ convinces the naive Mrs Wilberforce that the group is an amateur string quintet using the room for rehearsal space.
To maintain the deception they carry musical instruments and play a recording of classical music during their planning sessions.
The popular play is on at The Court Theatre from Wednesday April 22 through to Saturday 25 with performances at 8pm, plus an additional matinee on Satruday at 2.30pm.
Tickets cost £10 - £12 and are available from www.courttheatre.co.uk or the box office 07543 560478
