WHEN Ealing Studios released The Ladykillers back in 1955, it became an instant hit with film-goers.
Now it has been reimagined for the stage by TV comedy writer Graham Linehan, and comes to the Rugby Theatre stage from Saturday (September 20), for a week long run
The Henry Street theatre is among the first amateur groups to put on the sparkling stage comedy, which proved a massive hit in the West End.
Helen Dulcamara, who is directing the Rugby production, said: “I saw The Ladykillers when it in the West End and immediately fell in love with it.
“It takes the idea of the original film, a wonderfully clever old-fashioned black and white Ealing comedy, and puts it on the stage in a brilliantly original way.
“The plot and the characters from the film are there, but Graham Linehan has reinvented it in his own unique – and incredibly funny – style.”
The story revolves around Louisa Wilberforce, a sweet little old lady who lives alone in her house in London, until she is visited by a gang of criminal misfits who are planning a major robbery nearby.
Posing as amateur musicians, the villains rent rooms in the lopsided house of dotty Mrs Wilberforce, and plot to involve her, unwittingly, in the brilliantly conceived heist.
When Mrs Wilberforce becomes wise to their ruse the gang decide there is only one way to keep the old lady quiet – but knocking her off isn’t as straightforward as it might seem.
Tickets, priced £12 and £13, are available from www.rugbytheatre.co.uk/ladykillers or calling the box office on 01788 541234.
