A local theatre group has looked to the ancient past for its first production under its new name.

Sutton’s Green Hut Theatre Company is travelling to ancient Rome for the stage adaptation of the BBC sitcom Up Pompeii.

For several decades, the group has been known as Sutton Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, or Sutton Amateurs.

The new name will greet audiences as they arrive at Sutton Village Hall next month for the group’s annual late-summer play.

Up Pompeii is a bawdy comedy set in the Roman town in the hours leading up to the famous eruption of the nearby volcano Vesuvius.

Events in one particular courtyard are proving to be just as explosive, particularly for the hapless slave Lurcio. Originally played by Frankie Howerd, Lurcio the hero of the original Carry On-style TV series that ran in 1969 and 1970.

The storyline each week was an excuse for double entendres and risque gags, with Frankie often speaking directly to the audience.

In 1988, Frankie asked one of his writers, Miles Tredinnick, to write an updated stage version for a proposed national UK tour.

Although the tour never happened with the comedian, the script was revived in 2011 for a UK tour starring Damian Williams.

In the stage version version, Lurcio -- played in the Sutton production by Philip Smith -- also speaks to the audience.

He is at the centre of an unlikely series of events featuring a senator and his wife, scantily-dressed slave girls, pirates and a soothsayer.

Joining Philip will be fellow Green Hut regulars like Alison and Emma Waters, Jacqui Thompson, Alan Senior and Bryan Blackie.

Up Pompeii will be performed at Sutton Village Hall on the evenings of September 6 and 7.

Tickets cost £8 including a light supper. They are available from Bryan Blackie on 01535 632289.