Ray Cooney, dubbed The Master of farce by The Telegraph, is celebrating both his 85th birthday and 70 years in showbiz this year.

He is working with producer Tom O’Connell on a brand new season of his comedies, including an updated version of his Olivier-Award-winning Westminster comedy Out of Order which runs at Malvern Theatres from Monday, May 8, directed by Cooney himself.

The all-star cast includes Shaun Williamson (EastEnders, Extras) who stars as George Pigden; Sue Holderness (Only Fools & Horses, Green Green Grass) as Mrs Willey; Jeffrey Harmer (Out of Order, Fox on the Fairway) as Richard Willey; James Holmes (Miranda) as the Waiter and Arthur Bostrom, (‘Allo ‘Allo) as the Hotel Manager.

When Tory Junior Minister Richard Willey tries to spend the evening with Jane, one of the Opposition’s secretaries, in the Westminster Hotel, things don’t exactly go according to plan - starting with the discovery of a body trapped in the hotel’s only unreliable sash window… Enlisting the help of his hapless private secretary George Pigden, Willey’s sticky situation goes from bad to worse, and with the arrival of Jane’s distraught young husband and the addition of an unscrupulous waiter, Mrs Willey and Nurse Foster, things really come to a head!

Ray Cooney said, “Having directed my Olivier Award-Winning play in London and all over the world, and hearing all that wonderful raucous laughter from audiences, it has become one of my favourite plays. I've up-dated it to present day and, fortunately, the basic premise of a philandering politician is as likely today as it was when the play was originally written!”

Out of Order will be at Malvern Theatres from Monday, May 8 to Saturday, May 13. To book, call the box office on 01684 892277 or visit malvern-theatres.co.uk