Verdict: Funny must-see comedy drama

‘Let the magic begin’. Joan’s a maniacal theatre director bent on staging her definitive Hamlet in a disused drug rehab centre, courtesy of the London Borough of Southwark. Her one actress, pretty Geraldine who works in a funeral parlour, is not convinced - especially as Joan has just spent the budget on promotional T-shirts.

Geraldine’s fed up with her casting in previous productions: ‘The mad old bint who goes bonkers and lisps - Amanda Plummer-type nutcases’. Enter Neil - unsteadily - on roller-blades, up for an audition for Starlight Express. Cruelly, Neil and Geraldine recall Joan’s last Shakespearean disaster. Her Richard III in Covent Garden – that’s outside Covent Garden - was upstaged by a busker, and Neil’s damned if he’s playing Polonius again. But stalwart - loopy, actually – Joan’s enthusiasm won’t be breached – she’s finished her sentence of children’s summer season in Torquay (likened by the Yeovil Chronicle to ‘a musical version of The Cherry Orchard’) and the sky’s the limit.

Enter producer Marcus with great news: they’ll play Stratford! It’s, er, a disused theatre courtesy of his Lithuanian ex-piano teacher, Mrs Slutska. Not the Royal Shakespeare, it’s true, but better than Southwark where - as Marcus points out - a good night out is an ‘18 pints competition and see who can urinate highest up Nelson’s Column - and that’s just the women’. Geraldine makes her decision - out. She’s back to the funeral parlour. At least there’s a pension.

They need a star, or failing that, a fallen star. And that man is - Isambard Warrington. Neil’s dispatched to coerce him into reviving his career. Suddenly, the ghost of William Shakespeare himself is on stage, having a quiet word with Marcus. They’ve connived a secret plot between them to rob his grave at Holy Trinity Church and stage one of his forgotten plays – Will’s particularly keen on his little-known sequel ‘Love’s Labours Won’. But Anne Hathaway mustn’t find out - she and Will have several unresolved issues.

A cast of magnificent and wholly incompetent actors is assembled. There’s Dervish, the generally challenged boy with an interest in literature – ‘Fools Rush In’ (but the one by Anthea Turner). Isambard the forgotten camp matinee idol (‘The Pretty Boy of Bognor’) with a hundred bitchy (omitted here as libellous) asides on pinnacles of his profession from Ralph Fiennes to Bonnie Langford. Bernadette’s a nun reading Lady Macbeth’s speech for her audition, but with ‘darned’ instead of ‘damned’ as she feels swearing wouldn’t be fitting to her vocation. And Geraldine - sacked from the stiff’s parlour and humbly asking to return. Plus Joan and Marcus to make up the numbers.

The great game is about to begin, with the assistance of a magnificent Anne Hathaway and mad-as-a-badger Mrs Slutska. Geraldine’s remarkable sexual tastes are inflicted on a sore-thereafter Marcus. William Shakespeare himself narrowly avoids arrest. There are tantrums, fights, walk-outs - much like any other production. But Sister Bernadette and gay Neil become gentle friends - she admires his commitment to hard factory work ‘packing fudge at the weekend’. Intrigues over Will’s lost plays intercut with director Joan’s increasingly disastrous team-bonding exercises. They climax with the neat twist at the end - and centre - of this hilarious Shakespearean spoof.

Shamlet is written and directed with a fine precision by Andrew Doyle. It’s a delightful comedy, acted with élan by an exceptionally talented cast: (alpha order) Louis Brownhill gives a glorious performance as the endearing and not-so-stupid-as-he’d-have-us-believe Dervish. Oliver Burton plays Isambard with a subtle control, the better to bring out the rich humour of the part. Lise Cervi does Anne Hathaway probably better than Anne Hathaway did herself - her commanding performance certainly brings Anne out of her Cottage.

Harry Dickman reanimates Will to perfection, and brings wit and perception to the camp Waiter, and Police Inspector. Barbara Halliwell creates a wonderfully batty Mrs Slutska, in a memorable and funny performance. Dan Morgan gives Marcus the ambiguity the role needs - part innocent, part crafty schemer. Chris Vincent handles the complex role of Neil, onstage for much of the play, with a fine comedic talent.

Sarah Waddell inhabits her role, producing a fabulously sexy Geraldine who fairly smoulders with crossness and dark (probably illegal) Scottish desires. Julia Williams is a very funny Bernadette, her facial expressions and mannerisms exactly right - a real nun, rather than a caricature - in a credible, if unusual, situation. Maureen Younger is a resounding success as the pivotal Joan, giving an outrageous spoof director performance that ranks alongside Christopher Guest’s Corky St Clair in Waiting for Guffman.

JOHN PARK