On Thursday last I had the great pleasure of watching a rehearsal for the upcoming season of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – and, if I can take the popular modern liberty of inventing a new word, it promises to be ‘scoundralously‘ good!

We only got to see an early couple of scenes, it’s only the eighth rehearsal, but already one can see the wicked main characters and the sense of humour to match blossoming under the genius of such luminaries as Tony Sheldon, John Wood, Matt Hetherington and Amy Lehpamer, deftly directed by Roger Hodgman.

I interviewed Katrina Retallick and Matt Hethrington who both asserted that the rehearsals were such fun that it had to translate to an uproarious, laugh a minute experience for the audiences. Katrina said, “The more outrageous I can be- the better. When asked what they thought the audience would remember most from the show they both agreed, “That they had had a fun night.”

Matt said that, being a fan of the two movie versions, (Marlon Brando and David Niven preceded the eighties flick in 1964 under the name “Bedtime Story”!), he was pleased to see more than the occasional nod to those scripts, which he thought that audiences would appreciate. He was also pleased to be able to introduce younger people to the older style of comedy created by comedians like Jerry Lewis.

The songs sound great, augmented by a talented ensemble. I can’t wait to see the finished show.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS opens at the Theatre Royal on 24 October.