MRS Culfeathers singing the praises of Galloway's mince will once again echo round a Glasgow theatre as amateur dramatics company The Lyric Club, takes on The Steamie.

Arguably one of the city's most famous plays, The Steamie, with its nostalgic recreation of life in a 1950s wash house, has never failed to draw a laugh.

In its latest guise, Dolly, Magrit, Doreen and Mrs Culfeathers, are back, this time at the new, state- of-the-art Drama Studio at Hutchesons' Grammar School from Today until to Saturday.

The Glasgow-based classic, written by Rab C actor Tony Roper, will be the first performance by an external company to tread the boards at the South Side theatre.

And it promises the same laughs and Glasgow humour that has entertained thousands of theatre-goers since it first hit the stage at Jordanhill College of Education in 1987.

Alan Jones, director at The Lyric Club, said the play's enduring popularity stems from its use of the Glasgow patter.

He said: "There is something intrinsically humorous about the Glasgow accent and Glasgow words and pronunciations and also, it is very true and accurate.

"I remember, as a wee boy in the '50s, people like this.

"In fact not just in the 1950s, but later on as well, there are still people wandering about Glasgow who speak like this, tarvel on a bus and you will hear them.

"It has this enduring sense of nostalgia.

"But also, running beside that, it works at more levels that just the knockabout comedy."

Showcasing the foibles of the five-strong cast - four women and one man - The Steamie follows the activities of working class women in a wash house on Hogmanay.

The set, complete with running water, shows the inside of the wash house with individual stalls and Belfast sinks and scrubbing boards.

True to the original script, even the women's pinnies and hair-turbans are true to the 1950s.

One of the play's most hilarious and long running jokes is Mrs Culfeathers' - played by Liz Mitchell - obsession with Galloway's mince.

"It's an absolutely nonsense thing that just goes on and on," says Alan. "It is a very brave thing to have written, because it just goes on, and yet, at the first mention of Galloway's mince - I know when I have done The Steamie before - there is this great intake of breath by the audience because they have all been waiting for this long episode that goes round and round in circles and just gets funnier by each line."

Alan explains that, unlike most comedies, The Steamie has kept the cast laughing throughout weeks and weeks of rehearsals.

He said: "When you rehearse comedies you get to the point where the play becomes very unfunny and you think no one is ever going to laugh at this.

"But with The Steamie we are all still laughing at it, and we are at about rehearsal 15!"

But among the jokes, lies a more melancholy message about poverty and life for women in the 1950s.

Through the aspirations of young Doreen, played by Emma-Louise Nisbet, who wants nothing more than a house in Drum- chapel, away from the slums and the outdoor toilets, with all the modcons visible in the American movies, we see a harsh world dominated by male values.

Alan said: "The Steamie has lots of meaning at many levels.

"It's essentially a comedy of working class women in the 1950s but, it has a message about the status of women.

"Because they were the ones expected to do the work.

"And we also see their dreams and aspirations for better things, such as the young girl in the cast whose ultimate aspiration is to get a house in Drumchapel.

"It is a very nostalgic piece, but, essentially it is very funny."

l The Steamie runs from tonight to Saturday at 7.30pm, at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Beaton Road, Glasgow, with a matinee on Saturday. Tickets £14. Tel. 07411977851 or visit ticket enquiries@lyricclub.net