THE COMEDIAN Peter Cook once said, sagely, of our greatest ever dramatist: "God bless him.

"What a wonderful, odd chap Shakespeare was. Bald but sexy."

Now, to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, individuals and groups across the land have been scratching their heads, bald or otherwise, to come up with fitting ways to commemorate the momentous occasion.

Among them are the Cradley Village Players, who have been debating how best to pay tribute; and their answer isn’t to stage a single play, "but something a little more light-hearted".

A spokesman said: "The Shakespeare Show will combine short extracts from the great man’s works with poems, stories and sketches by famous and not-so-famous modern authors who were inspired by his brilliance.

"There are also some songs - a few of them well known, others more surprising."

The spokesman added: "The show also reminds us of how Shakespeare has enlivened our language as well as our literature."

The show will be directed by Mary Fielding who was responsible for CVP’s production of Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus last summer.

The Shakespeare Show will come to Cradley CofE Primary School from Thursday June 2 to Saturday June 4, from 7.30 pm each night.

All tickets cost £5 and are available from the Cradley Butchery, online from Cradleyvillageplayers.com

They will also be available on the door.