FOR 11 years, the Queen and Margaret Thatcher had weekly get togethers behind closed doors, but did they actually get on?

Moira Buffini’s political comedy Handbagged gives an insightful view into what could have happened in these regular meetings that take place between monarch and prime minister.

With an older and younger version of each character – Q (Susan Penhaligon) and Liz (Caroline Harker), and T (Sarah Crowden) and Mags (Eve Matheson) – the Playhouse audience gets a double dose of each of this formidable duo.

Add to this a couple of men (Jahvel Hall and Andy Secombe) – between them playing a multitude of parts from Dennis Thatcher to Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan to Neil Kinnock – and you have yourself a hilarious satirical play.

Directed by Jo Newman, it is pure laugh-out-loud comedy genius as the six actors take the audience on a poignant journey from 1979 to 1990 with IRA bombs, race riots, royal weddings, the Falklands War, miners’ strike and the poll tax protests.

There are serious moments – as Liz expresses her concerns to Mags: “We lost the feeling that we are all in this together”, she is in fact referring to the unrest over the miners’ strike, but parallels can be drawn with politics today in Brexit Britain.

The four actresses are all excellent impersonators of their character but it’s Susan Penhaligon’s Q who steals the show with her classic put downs and one liners, as she tries to jostle the action along in order to get to the interval. Meanwhile Jahvel Hall’s bungling between character changes is equally amusing.

Although pure conjecture of course, it’s a very funny take on what might have gone on in these private meetings at Buckingham Palace.

- Handbagged continues at Salisbury Playhouse until April 20. For tickets contact 01722 320333/wiltshirecreative.co.uk