THE GREATEST criminal minds have met their match in the latest production from Keighley Playhouse.

The comedy The Ladykillers a gang of seasoned crooks find themselves outclassed by dear, sweet old lady Mrs Wilberforce.

The Playhouse is bringing the award-winning play, a recent hit in the West End and on tour, to Keighley to open its 2014/15 season.

The group promises a spectacular set as it recreates the innovation of comedy writer Graham Linehan’s script.

Thanks to Linehan, writer of sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd, Ladykillers is said to offer more quick one-liners than flashes of lightning on a very stormy day.

The storyline is well-known from the classic 1955 screen film which starred Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers.

Mrs Wilberforce, alone in her house, is pitted against a gang of criminal misfits who will stop at nothing.

Posing as amateur musicians, Professor Marcus and his gang rent a room in the pension’s lopsided house.

They plot to pull off their meticulously-planned heist and all is not what it appears as they try to outwit each other. But who will be forced to face the music?

Director Kevin Moore said: “The assembled cast are superb, the lighting and effects are fantastic and the set builders have gone above and beyond their duty to get this new season off to a great start.”

Kevin said many people had seen the original film starring a plethora of great British actors that went on to achieve notability.

He said: “The script for the play prepares you for a trip down nostalgic lane with laughs to match that uncovers comedy gold.

“Professor Marcus is a conniving, manipulative psychopath, with a heart of lead, while One-Round has taken too many punches to the head and Harry is daft, vain and out of his depth. What on earth can go wrong?

“The stage play turns a tragi-comedy/masterpiece of British film into a hilarious compendium of dramatic slapstick. The play borders on farce, but is all the better for it.”

With a final body count to resemble a Quentin Tarantino film, The Ridicules promises fantastic, fabulous and good old fashioned family fun.

The Ladykillers runs from Monday until Saturday at 7.30pm at Keighley Playhouse in Devonshire Street.

TICKETS RANGE FROM £5 TO £7. CALL 07599 890 769 to book..