PETER Shaffer's wittiest and most accessible play,the highly entertaining comedy Lettice and Lovage, opens at the Northcott Theatre tonight (Thursday) playing until June 10.
When we first meet Lettice Douffet, she is showing a group of tourists around one of England's duller stately homes.
Still passionate about history, but desperate to alleviate her boredom, Lettice's yarns about the goings-on in the house grow ever more outrageous. As a tour guide, she is a hit, but her boss Lotte Schoen finds her methods unacceptable and sacks her.
Yet the women find a bond in their shared love of history. They begin to re-enact episodes from the past, until a re-enactment of the beheading of Charles 1 has almost fatal results.
Undeterred by this minor hiccup in their relationship, they join forces in a crusade against the dull and ordinary — particularly architecture — united in their mission to 'Enlarge, Enliven and Enlighten!'
Lettice and Lovage is directed by Gwyneth Powell, last seen at the Northcott as Betty in last year's production of A Passionate Woman.
For 11 years Gwyneth played headmistress Mrs McCluskey in the BBC children's series Grange Hill, and more recently David Jason's girlfriend Kitty in A Touch of Frost.