Classic British farce returns

Wartime farce See How They Run provided London theatre with one of its finest hours.

On the night it opened in 1945, three flying bombs fell on the capital, but the comedy ran for 600 performances despite air raids.

The show is also credited with inspiring Dad's Army and supplied the nation with the line: 'As the actress said to the bishop'.

Now the comedy, written to boost morale, is returning to the West End stage.

Producers are aiming to evoke a wartime atmosphere when See How They Run opens at the Duchess Theatre, with searchlights and songs by Vera Lynn and others.

Producer Matthew Byam Shaw said: 'We're not trying to turn the playhouse into a theatre museum but we need the audience to join in the spirit of this and leave the cynicism of 2006 at the front of house and be convinced that they're in 1946.'

The play, by Philip King, who died in 1979, has not been staged in London for more than 20 years but its fans include Tom Stoppard who said it contained the funniest line in English farce: 'Arrest several of these vicars.'

Mr Byam Shaw added: 'Farce is still something of a dirty word in the West End. They're often done with an It Ain't Half Hot Mum atmosphere and with performers who are too old. They're not very good but this is a classic British comedy.'