Fancy a chance to relive your school days? Putney Theatre Company’s new production of Teechers is bringing memories of spotted dick and custard, playground wedgies and queues outside the headmaster’s office back to life.

Teechers is one of Hull playwright John Godber’s most popular works and the director of the show, Barney Hart Dyke, is relishing staging the play in Putney Arts Theatre’s newly renovated studio.

He says: “I wanted to do a show in the new studio and optimise the space by using it in a different way. I also wanted to do something popular - I like the play but have never seen it done with three actors, as Godber did it in the original production.”

Set in Whitewall Comprehensive it is the tale of three underachieving delinquents, Hobby, Gail and Salty and their last year at school, featuring evil Mr Basford, eccentric headteacher Mrs Parry, as well as chirpy Miss Prime, and school lunatic Oggy Moxon Hobby, Gail and Salty are inspired by their new drama teacher, Mr Nixon, to create a school play about their final year. The three pupils get stuck into the project and for the first time realise that school can give them something that they are good at and actually enjoy.

Hart Dyke believes that narrowing down the cast size so the trio of actors play all the characters will bring fresh life to the much peformed piece. He says: ”The actors do it through different voices, props and costume and the text changes between narration, third person and first person speech. Having three adults playing the children and a number of other characters brings a new energy to the play.”

Why does he think Godber play, written in 1987, is still so popular with the theatre going public? “It is a very observational piece and people recognise what he is writing about - there is no need to overplay it.

“Some say he has got more middle class and Mr Nixon is a left wing teacher in the play who is ground down by the reality of teaching in an inner city comprehensive. We updated terms like O-Levels and references to films but the basis of the play still stands up.”

“His plays all have a serious tone and in Teechers one of the schoolboys has a speech about politicians not caring about the inner city, but the audience are going to be in for a fast fun and furious night.”

Teechers, Putney Arts Theatre, Ravenna Road, Putney, London, SW15 6AW, October 2-4 and 10-11, 7.45pm, £10 (£7) 020 8788 6943, putneyartstheatre.org.uk