ARCHAEOLOGISTS have been hard at work outside the Abbey Theatre in St Albans recently – but an exciting find has been discovered inside the building as well.

August is traditionally the month when essential maintenance is carried out in the stage and control room areas in the theatre which abuts the site of the new Westminster Lodge where excavations have been carried out by archaeologists.

This year a dedicated group of hammer-wielding members of the Company of Ten stripped off the stage only to find the remains of an old set incised into the floor.

Paul Davidson, chairman of the Company of Ten, realised that it was part of the elaborate design for Amadeus, Peter Shaffer’s play about the death of Mozart, performed by the drama group no less than 20 years ago in July 1990.