THEATRE-goers have the chance to enjoy a stage version of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novel Maskerade and raise money for research into Alzheimer’s disease.

The Sinodun Players will bring Pratchett’s Discworld to life on the stage of the Corn Exchange, Wallingford, next month in Maskerade, a parody of the worlds of opera, witches and over-the-top musicals.

Three years ago, best-selling author Pratchett made a donation of £500,000 to Alzheimers research shortly after being diagnosed with a form of the condition himself and criticised the lack of funding for it.

The director of Sinodun’s Maskerade production, Paul Cleverley, is using it to raise funds for the same cause.

The adaptation to be performed by the Players is by Stephen Briggs, of the Studio Theatre Club, and was first performed at the Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon. Briggs completed his stage version just a week after the book was published. He and Pratchett had an exclusive backstage tour of the Royal Opera House when they were researching the project.

Pratchett has made an international reputation and sold millions of books with his gentle satires of every aspect of our lives. His Discworld is similar to ours, but with some crucial differences. It’s a fantasy world populated by strange characters who may bear uncanny similarities to people we already know.

The action takes place in the Opera House of Ankh-Morpork, a city on Discworld where the weird and the wonderful mix with the often down-to-earth — or even lower.

Cleverley said:: “This is one of Stephen Briggs’ best adaptations of Pratchett’s books. One has to wonder at the power of theatre to enclose a whole Discworld, itself on the back of four elephants (there used to be five), which stand in turn on the shell of the giant star turtle Great A’Tuin.

“And, no, it’s not turtles all the way down — there’s only one . . . at the moment.”

Maskerade is designed by Blewbury artist Elphin Lloyd-Jones, Bafta-nominated director and designer of The Animals of Farthing Wood and Noah’s Island, who, like Cleverley, is a fan of Pratchett’s work. Both were keen to bring Discworld to the Wallingford stage.

The show will be performed on Friday and Saturday, July 8 and 9, and from Monday to Saturday, July 11 to 16, all at 7.30pm. The second Friday of the run is a gala evening.

Cleverley explained how he was using the show to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

“We’re raising funds via the Just Giving website — www. justgiving.com/maskerade — where you can join a team led by Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Agnes Nitt or The Phantom himself (or herself!),” he said. “The team with the most donations wins and the winner will be announced on the gala evening of Friday, July 15.”

Tickets are £10 each for all performances, apart from the Monday, when they are available at a discount price of £7.50. They can be obtained at the box office on 01491 825000 (7-8pm daily and 10am-1pm on Fridays and Saturdays) or the websites www.sinodunplayers.org.uk and www.cornexchange.org.uk