The Hong Kong Players' latest production of Dick Barton: Special Agent will take local audiences back to post-war Britain, the heyday of classic detective narratives.
"It's a spoof of the popular radio programmes on the BBC in the mid-40s, so we use the elements of escapism to transport audiences back in time with costume and lighting, all put together in a fun and fast-paced show," says director Kath O'Connor.
She and the Hong Kong Players community chose the play after reading a number of others, and decided to go with the one with the best response.
"Everyone who took part enjoyed Dick Barton the most, so we had the theatre booked and got to work," she says.
The energetic plotline by Phil Willmott revolves around a detective captured by arch enemy Baron Scarheart, who, along with the sultry seductress and double agent Marta Heartburn, wish the detective a cruel end. Can our protagonist escape to protect the free world from the forces of darkness?
"There are a lot of jokes in the play," says O'Connor, citing, as an example, a running gag about the British and their love of tea.