Bradford actor John Gully is playing the local parson and town schoolmaster Sir Hugh Evans in a production by Northern Broadsides in partnership with New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

He plays the character at the centre of the community in The Merry Wives, a Yorkshire version of Shakespeare’s popular comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Even though he plays an active role in local life, Evans’ status as a foreigner - he is Welsh - make him something of an outsider and his speech is much-mocked, as is that of the local doctor, a Frenchman.

Centring around the portly knight Sir John Falstaff - a buffoonish suitor of two married women - the play was first published in 1602, though it is believed to have been written sometimes before 1597.

Gully is well known for roles in Emmerdale, where he played DC Porter, Coronation Street, where he took the role of DS Palmer, and for his part as the Duke of Norfolk in Elizabeth, screened on Channel Four.

He also appears as Harry the landlord in the new film Dusty and Me, a feel-good, heart-warming film set in Yorkshire in 1977, about an adolescent boy’s summer after leaving school.

The Merry Wives - which is being staged at Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse is awash with excruciatingly funny episodes of pure farce. Mrs Page and Mrs Ford are feisty wives who plot to outfox the devious advances of the philandering Falstaff. Mr Ford’s jealousy, and determination to prove the suspected infidelity, leads to hilarious and heart-rending consequences.

Northern Broadsides bring their characteristic energy and exuberance to bear, fanning this delicious play into a comic bonfire.

The company has previously staged The Merry Wives in 1993 and 2001. Playing Sir John Falstaff for the third time will be its artistic director Barrie Rutter.

Rutter’s recent works include the title roles in Jonathan Miller’s productions of King Lear and Rutherford & Son, as well directing and featuring in Broadsides award-winning co-production with the New Vic Theatre, An August Bank Holiday Lark. Barrie Rutter has previously worked for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Last year he was awarded the OBE for services to Drama.

Northern Broadsides is a unique theatre company with a true northern voice. Its work is characterised by a high degree of theatrical inventiveness and robust performances from a large ensemble cast of multi-talented and charismatic northern actors who all perform in their natural voices. For the past 23 years, it has delighted audiences here and abroad with a growing classic repertoire that has won the company many awards and a loyal following worldwide.

*The Merry Wives, Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, from Wednesday April 6 to Saturday April 16. Evenings and matinees. Tickets are priced between £13 and £29 and can be purchased at the Box Office on 0113 213 7700 or online at wyp.org.uk