A ragged troupe of Victorian ne’er do wells will roll into town on the first day of Ilkley Summer Festival.

Performing a tribute to their dear departed cart-horse, Hamlet, on Saturday will be Hardcastle’s Mighty Excelsior Theatre – better known as the Penny Plain Theatre Company.

A regular festival visitor, the theatre company will set up stage at the bandstand on The Grove, to put on their performance at 2pm.

Andrew Jackson, otherwise known as Sudbury Spoone, has penned the script in a style now familiar to the fans of Penny Plain. It bears, they say, a mere passing resemblance to any play by the Bard.

Described as ‘barking, but brilliant’, the company will once again bring to life the characters of hapless travelling players from a bygone era.

Now in their fourth year, the company will be performing The Much Improv’d Hamlet at other major regional festivals, including Knaresborough Festival, Saltaire Festival and Ripon International Festival.