Remember those “rude mechanicals” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, et al?

Well, here they are again in the sensational behind the scenes story of their preparations for the play they hope to perform at the “Royal Wedding” – and boy are they rude this time around!

In what turns out to be a sort of ‘Shakespearean Vaudeville’ we are entertained with a series of songs, sketches and dances (often bawdy, even vulgar, and always very, very silly!) that celebrate the long and glorious tradition of theatre clowning.

But what is also celebrated here is the love of theatre for its own sake, for its capacity to expand and refine the human spirit.

As the story of this naïve, hopelessly and hilariously incompetent band of players unfolds we can’t help but bask in the glow of their fellowship, or admire their extraordinary bravura in the face of inevitable ridicule.

Even as all their efforts collapse spectacularly into disaster our merry band emerge triumphant - not with fame or fortune, but with that ennobling communal bond that inspires and revitalises theatricals the world over.

That’s what it’s really all about!