It is definitely the performances that make Oliver Goldsmith's 18th century play She Stoops To Conquer so thoroughly entertaining.

There is a scene where Mrs Hardcastle the well-intentioned but interfering mother played by Sophie Thompson is trying to show off that she isn't a country bumpkin but up to speed with the latest fashion and trends to her daughter's potential suitor and city-boy Marlow (Harry Hadden-Paton).

Thompson's Mrs Hardcastle does a superb job of trying to put on what she thinks is an accent that demonstrates city sophistication but is really failing miserably. It is brilliantly funny to watch but all the time you are aware that what she is saying rather than just how she was saying it would be having exactly the same effect on the 18th century audience.

It's not that everything in the script goes over our 21st century heads, far from it, but there is another level of humour that you just occasionally comprehend like getting glimpse through a crack in the door.

But the performances certainly fill the gap. Goldsmith has, after all, created the sort characters and situation that directors and actors can have a lot of fun with. The aforementioned Marlow, for instance, we are told from the outset has contrasting reports of his character. One is that he is all shy politeness and the other is that he's a bit of a party animal.

Kate Hardcatle (Katherine Kelly) who's being lined up to marry Marlow likes the sound of the wild Marlow but not the meek one so she determines to disguise herself in such a way as to bring out his wild side.