Codpieces have been flung off and replaced with shoulder pads, vibrant colours and big hair for Company of Ten’s production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

The St Albans theatre group has gone “back to the future“ and given Shakespeare’s rarely performed play an ‘80s-style makeover and set it to a soundtrack of classic pop tunes.

The playlist will range from Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams are Made of This and Peter Gabriel’s Big Time to U2’s With or Without You and Kool & The Gang’s Celebration.

The bard’s energetic romantic comedy combines ribald humour with near tragedy and beautifully expressed emotion.

Widely believed to be Shakespeare’s first play, it contains many of the scenes, speeches and trademarks from his later works, including the classic plot device of the-girl-disguised-as-a-boy.

The story follows the love lives of friends Proteus and Valentine, and their two love interests, Silvia and Julia, as they negotiate all the angst, betrayals, break-ups and make-ups of adolescent romance.

Director Angela Stone says this emphasis on the confidence yet also the vagaries of youth made setting the play in the ‘80s an easy decision.

“It just seemed a natural era for it,“ she says. “I remember a resurgent youth culture, confidently challenging the old order and emerging from the social and economic darkness that was the 1970s.“

Alongside the romantic drama, the play features some unforgettable comic moments – not least the scene where Proteus’ servant, Launce, complains about his dog’s bad behaviour at the Duke of Milan’s palace, which Elizabeth I found so amusing in the film Shakespeare in Love.

Abbey Theatre, Westminster Lodge, Holywell Hill, St Albans, February 27 to March 1 and March 5 to 8 at 8pm with 2.30pm performance on March 2. Details: 01727 857861, abbeytheatre.org.uk