Seventy years after its formation, a village drama society has returned to the author of their last play to mark the anniversary.

Wheathampstead Dramatic Society (WDS) has chosen Tim Firth’s Neville’s Island for its anniversary production which will be performed at the Memorial Hall in the village.

An hilarious and occasionally dark comedy, it follows the misadventures of four businessmen shipwricked on an island in the Lake District during a team-building exercise.

The unlikely explorers battle the elements and each other with increasing levels of incompetence, irritation and hunger (sharing as they do a solitary sausage) and any semblance of corporate bonding soon disintegrates into chaos.

WDS was formed in the autumn of 1946 and recent successes have included The Thirty Nine Steps, Educating Rita, The Weir and a sell-out production of Calendar Girls.

Neville’s Island is directed by Robert Naylor Staples and is being performed at the hall in Marford Road, Wheathampstead, from next Thursday to Saturday, October 13 to 15.

Tickets are £10 and can purchased in advance from Manor Pharmacy, Wheathampstead, here or by telephoning 01582 621357.