THE Third Party Theatre Company comes to Northwich on May 3 for a one-off night of classic British theatre.

The Tragical History of Dr Faustus will be performed at the Harlequin Theatre, Queen Street, Northwich at 7.45pm.

It is one of Britain's most famous plays and lays the foundation for a host of other works that followed it, most notably Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth.

The story revolves around Dr Faustus who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for magic powers and the use of the demon Mephistopholis. Third Party put their own personality into the play though this is all in the words of Christopher Marlowe (although not necessarily in the right order)'.

A cut script is used to make the play move faster than the original work, yet keep it full of surprises. Claire Smith of the Cheshire Arts Service said the play is well made, directed, performed and creatively produced.

She said: "It is an extremely entertaining piece of work that pushes boundaries in the treatment of classical material without alienating."

Actor managers Nicholas Collett and Anthony Gleave are quick to point out that they do not ignore or step aside from Marlowe's language or structure. Their version moves through the full arc of the story which contains some of the most popular dramatic verse ever written accompanied by some splendid comedy and interwoven with what they describe as cheap tricks and strong magic, smoke, mirrors and live music.

Tickets for this one-off performance are priced at £8 (£6 concessions) and are available from the DAN office in Northwich library, Witton Street, or by telephone on 01606 41597.