And the Dukes' production team have already gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure 'Beauty and the Beast' will be no different.

Last week an eight-strong squad dragged a piano – weighing a quarter of a ton – up a hill and into its home for the duration of the play's run, above the infamous log-stepped seating area in the park.

Using heavy-duty lengths of steel, one step at a time and despite windy and muddy conditions due to heavy rain the day before (when the team had been out in the elements building a protective box for the piano), the Dukes' production team managed to pull it off.

"This is a fairly unusual situation to say the least," said piano tuner SImon Wroe, who in the past has tuned pianos for the MTV Awards and an Oasis gig.

"This piano is in pretty poor condition at the moment, it's very flat and might take me some time to get it right.

"But it'll sound great when I've finished with it. I think it's fair to say this piano probably hasn't been tuned in decades."

Simon will return to check if the piano is still in tune at some point during the summer.

In the meantime, seated on the piano stool will be musician Mark Melville, who has composed the original score for the play.

So, what will happen to the piano once the production is over?

"it seems a shame to throw it away," said John Newman-Holden, production manager.

"Perhaps one of The Visitor's readers would like it. But they must be able to collect!"