IF Comic Strip, Monty Python and Charles Dickens had tipped their respective works into a cauldron and given them an almighty stir with a magic wand, then the result may well have been Bleak Expectations, Mark Evans’ Dickensian spoof which opens at Ilkley Playhouse this week.

This hilarious romp through some of English literature’s best known, well loved storylines, Bleak Expectations is part farce, part pantomime, part melodrama and all fun.

Opening at the birth – literally – of Pip’s family, we meet his parents and sisters in quick succession.

Pip (Robert Place) is to become the main protagonist of this piece, both in person in the present and also as his older self played by a patriarchal and richly toned David Newall– an omnipresent narrator who sits with his book of fireside tales.

Played with huge energy and enthusiasm, this cast takes on all the characters that Dickens throws at them.

Pip’s poor mother, so early on to lose her marbles, is taken on by Gilly Rogers who manages not only to bring some much-needed maternal compassion to her offspring, but also to charm their linen and later to become their feline friend. Confused? Well, when you see it, you’ll get it!

Robert Place as Pip rarely leaves the stage and never ceases to strive to overcome his ‘bleak expectations’.

Sent first to a ‘Dotheboys-esque’ school Pip, who is based reasonably snugly on the experiences of Great Expectations’ Philip Pirrip but also of David Copperfield, overwhelms his first oppressor – the maniacally sadistic headteacher ‘Hardthrasher’ (Dermot Hill), before then cavorting with his sisters as much as he does the poor Flora Dies-Early (Gilly Rogers).

Once his grief-stricken mother has gone mad – and all for the lack of someone to tenderly hold her hand – the three now penniless children – Pip, Pippa (Ash Walsh) and Poppy (Cari Marston) are left with few options – the most obvious being to marry well.

But suitable suitors are thin on the ground, especially when it becomes clear that the most interested, Mr Gently Benevolent (Howard Russell), is anything but.

Thank heavens then for the wonderfully charming and determined Harry Biscuit (Alex Whitaker) who endlessly turns up to save more than one day.

To attempt to explain every twist and turn of this plot would be to do it a disservice – and would also be really hard!

This is a glorious mash up of familiar stories and new ones, recognisable characters and distinctly anachronistic ones.

There is great assistance given by some super sound cues and lighting effects to help place the action and Kevin Moore’s direction has made sure that this piece runs at a cracking pace.

These actors work their stockinged feet off ensuring there is never a dull moment.

It is on at Ilkley Playhouse until Saturday, December 14.

Tickets may be bought by calling 01943 609539 or online @ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk