Black comedy The Ladykillers is making its début on the Pump House Theatre stage next week.

As soon as the script for the classic drama became available for amateur theatre groups to use, The Pump House Theatre Company pounced on the chance to bring the hilarious show to Watford.

“It was only released a few months ago, but it has been done quite frequently around the country because it is such a popular piece,” explains director Carole Baynes, who is making her Pump House directorial début.

Based on the 1955 film classic written by William Rose and starring Alastair Sim and Peter Sellers, The Ladykillers was adapted for the stage by Father Ted writer Graham Linehan in 2011.

The play tells the story of the sweet, but strict, elderly Mrs Wilberforce who lives in a subsiding home above a railway tunnel at Kings Cross Station with her parrot General Gordon.

When the devilish Professor Marcus and his criminal gang move into her spare room, he soon embroils an unwitting Mrs Wilberforce in his scheme to stage a heist on a security van.

Performed by a cast of seven local actors, Carole says she wanted to stick to the original script in her reproduction of the play.

“The characters are so very well drawn that it is difficult to put your own stamp on something that is so well written,” says the former doctor.

However, she admits it has been a tough piece to stage.

“It is a very complicated set because we have got so many sound effects,” says Carole, who lives in Harrow, and first got into the theatre through her love of dance.

“It is supposed to be set in a house that suffers from subsidence from the war and being so close to the station it is supposed to rattle. It is also set on two levels so that presents another challenge.”

Nevertheless rehearsals are going well, with the whole Pump House Theatre Company team putting the finishing touches to the production.

Professor Marcus is played by Jevan Morris, while Mrs Wilberforce is played by Sue Reynolds, who has known Carole for 40 years.

“I have enjoyed it because they are a talented company,” explains Carole.

“Because of that and their good reputation, it is a little bit of responsibility on my shoulders to come up with the goods. It has been a challenge because it is quite complicated, more than I had envisaged.”

She laughs: “I’m excited, anxious – you name it!”

Pump House Theatre, Local Board Road, Lower High Street, Watford, September 21 to 26, 7.45pm. Details: 0844 8700 887, pumphouse.info.