PORTLAND – Portland Stage Company will open its 32nd season wtih “Lettice & Lovage,” a British comedy full of wit and originality, Tuesday, Sept. 27. Award-winning playwright Peter Shaffer, author of “Equus” and “Amadeus,” originally wrote “Lettice & Lovage” as a vehicle for English actress Maggie Smith, who received critical and audience acclaim on Broadway in the role of Lettice Douffet in 1990.

The play traces the odd beginning and hilarious results of the friendship between a pair of very different but equally eccentric Englishwomen. Douffet is a passionate and uniquely bizarre woman. She invents a complete world of historical fantasy in protest against all that she deems dull or second rate.

Lotte, her ex-employer, shares her love of the past and is drawn into this imaginary madness with near fatal results when she assists Lettice in a re-enactment of the beheading of Charles I. Despite all the setbacks, together they make a formidable team, dedicated in their crusade to “enlarge, enliven and enlighten.”

“Lettice & Lovage” will run through Oct. 23. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; at 4 and at 8 p.m. Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $29 for adults Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, $25 for seniors and students; $33/$24 Saturdays and Sundays. Starting Oct. 13, a 2 p.m. matinee Thursdays, $29/$25. Portland Stage Company is located in the Portland Performing Arts Center, 25A Forest Ave. Call 774-0465.