THE bright rays of Nigel Hawthorne’s inaugural performance as George III – the bluff monarch they nicknamed “Farmer George” – will inevitably fall over this play for theatre-goers with long memories.

That was in the National Theatre’s first production of Alan Bennett’s comedy which also came to this venue on tour. Hawthorne later took the same role in the film.

No-one who saw that performance and that production is likely to forget either but that’s no reason to prevent another company and another leading actor having a crack at it.

The play delves into a bit of history they gloss over in school – the temporary madness of George III which put the Government of the country at the time on a knife-edge and nearly allowed the foppish and foolish Prince Regent to get his bum on the throne.

Bennett, I feel, would have liked that last line because he loves a bit of vulgarity, particularly when set alongside pomp and circumstance.

So here we have the contents of the monarch’s potty under close scrutiny as the bilious attack heralding the ensuing bout of madness brings a whole coterie of quack doctors onto the scene.