stops tonight for its 150th anniversary in the laughs business.

Thousands of pounds of equipment and a stunning array of costumes worth more than $40,000 have been transported to the Island for the traditional Hasty Pudding Club's spring trip to Bermuda.

In contrast with last year's futuristic farce -- this year's all-singing, all-dancing production goes back to the future with a Shakespearian-style romp called Paradise Lost and Found -- A Bermuda Love Triangle.

And it's done with no apologies to Milton or the Bard of Stratford on Avon's The Tempest -- itself loosely based on Sir George Somers' role as Bermuda's original accidental tourist -- either.

The high-camp humour -- king leering, you might say -- revolves around an 17th Century ahead-of-its-time theatre company who got a `ruff' deal in Merrie England and are bound for new opportunities in the New World when they're shipwrecked in Bermuda.

And a singing and dancing crew of everything from Vikings, Island princesses, cut-throat pirates and even an evil volcano goddess called Moanalot makes it....just as odd as the Island we all know and love, really.

Co-producer Adam Borchart, a 21-year-old economics student, said: "We've got some fabulous costumes this year -- there was a special effort for our anniversary.

"We tried to get together a special show which exemplified what we have tried to do over the past 150 years.'' The plot thickens like a bowl of hasty pudding when the `thea-going' thespians hit `bard' luck and rock bottom off the coast of Bermuda.

And things go from bad to worse for the Anglo actors when they meet up with Bermuda's bizarre cast of male and female characters, played -- in probably the only act of faith with Shakespearian traditions the entire evening -- entirely by men.

But cross-dressing once isn't enough -- Lady Puddingonairs wants to act, but can't because she's a woman. So she dresses up as a man to fool the troupe, which is a great trick if you can pull it off.

Tied to a torrid love story involving Troy Zarus, son of the King of Bermuda, who's trying to dodge an arranged marriage -- but isn't sure if the object of his desire is a woman or a man. Confused? That's the ticket. It's humour as you like it, no doubt.

The Pudding -- as its members call it -- has been coming to Bermuda for 30-odd -- very odd -- years.

But its origins date back to 1795 by 20-odd (I won't say it) Harvard undergraduates.

The members of the then-secret organisation, theatricals being frowned upon in Puritan New England, agreed to honour George Washington's birthday and provided a pot of hasty pudding on an alphabetical basis.

And the annual revues were born out of kangaroo courts designed to keep the unrulier members in order. From these "alligators'', came the first major theatrical event, a spoof of a popular musical of the day.

Paradise Lost and Found -- A Bermuda Love Triangle is showing at City Hall in Hamilton at 8 p.m from today until next Saturday, excluding Sunday and Monday.