Ready for a bit of rumpy Pompeii? Hitchin’s Roman revels roll into town this weekend

Carry On Cleo (Image: Archant)

First there’s Frankie Howerd’s leering Lurcio, the central figure in hit TV comedy Up Pompeii!.

That BBC hit came from an era when scriptwriters had no worries about playing to sexist stereotypes and if there was an excuse to display plunging necklines while doling out the double entrendres, so much the better.

Then there’s Kenneth Williams as an outraged Julius Caesar in Carry On Cleo. All together, now: Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me!

But there’s another player when it comes to tongue-in-check Roman rumpy-pumpy – for the third year running Hitchin’s Market Theatre is staging an adult comedy with a Roman theme.

Up Pompeii (Image: Archant)

If you’re a fan of the venue’s successful end of year adult panto, this raunchy Roman romp treads the same path but wearing sandals.

There’s farcical fun galore as heroine Frigella (Therese Robinson) comes up with an ingenious plan to escape her life of sexual frustration within the temple of the Vestal Virgins.

The only thing that will prevent it working is the unwanted help of her friend Bimbus (Market Theatre regular Pippa Johnson), with the action all set against the backdrop of the important festival of Maximus Durex.

The curtain goes up for the first time on Friday night and the show will be running all the way through to Saturday, September 26. It’s being staged every Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm.

Carry On Cleo (Image: Archant)

For more information or to book tickets call 01462 433553 or visit www.markettheatre.co.uk. And if you haven’t guessed yet, this production is not suitable for anyone aged under 16. Titter ye not!