STOCKTON Heath Methodist Dramatic Society will be performing a Shakespeare classic but with their tongues firmly in their cheeks.

Serious fans of the bard beware as this is Macbeth but not as you know it.

The play within a play will see the society members double as the gloriously named 'Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society'.

Written by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr, the comedy will see the motley crew try and clinch a place in the 'drama finals at Welwyn Garden City' after nine months of painstaking rehearsals.

However, events conspire to ensure that everything will not be all right on the night.

Injured actor Kate bravely troupes on with a leg in plaster, only to find her injuries more painful and numerous as the evening progresses.

And Lady Macbeth misses her bus so stage manager Henry has to step into the breach for a very different take on one of Shakespeare's most scheming and infamous female characters.

Stockton Heath Methodist Dramatic Society was established in 1950 and celebrated its diamond anniversary in 2010. The first show was Esther McGracken's Quiet Weekend.

Among the amateur dramatic group's members is Calendar Girls writer Tim Firth's mum, Kathy, and Tim was in the audience when she appeared in the Stockton Heath version.

Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Macbeth will be performed from tonight, Thursday, to Saturday at Stockton Heath Methodist Church Hall in Walton Road.

Tickets are £6 (£5 concessions) and can be reserved by calling 264179.