Whether or not you have a love of Mozart, anybody with an appreciation for theatre will love the dramatic tale of his life and death.

A period drama concerning the relationship between the maestro and fellow composer Antonio Salieri, Amadeus was written by Peter Shaffer, who also wrote the screen adaptation for the 1984 Oscar-winning movie version, directed by Miloš Forman and starring Tom Hulce and F Murray Abraham.

In the play, Salieri is looking back on his life some 40 years on and narrates the story of his meeting with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He tells of his huge disappointment to find that his rival's demeanour is completely void of the grace and charm associated with his compositions.

Salieri cannot understand how God would give an uncouth man such a beautiful gift and sets himself the task of ruining the reputation and success of the foul-mouthed musician.

Jeff Baynham, who plays Salieri, and Joshua Ford, who plays Mozart, both belong to the Fourways Theatre Company in High Wycombe. They come together with The Garden Players of Beaconsfield for this production.

They play very different characters and, to match, have very different techniques for getting into their roles.

Jeff, who also performs with the Chiltern Shakespeare Company, explains: “I don’t study the character academically. I tend to work almost exclusively from the words in the script.

“I find constant repetition of the way it was written by the author to be much more interesting.”

Joshua’s approach is a little more unusual, he will find a song to match his character: “It could be completely unrelated but it makes me think ‘this is Mozart’, so I listen to that over and over.”

Both, however, speak very highly of the script and of the production. Jeff says: “It has all the elements of good theatre with a fabulous script, serious plot and this music coming in to support the acting, the experience of that is beautiful.”

Joshua Ford, who plays Mozart, adds “The way the play is written really lends itself to people who love Mozart or beautiful music, but then Mozart is rude so it appeals to anyone with a sense of humour.”

Mozart began composing as young as five, showing prodigious ability. He died in 1791 after a year of remarkable musical productivity, in which he wrote The Magic Flute and the unfinished Requiem.

Director Steve McAdam ponders: “If he had lived just another few months what work would we have today?”

All profits from the production will be donated to Child Bereavement UK, a national charity based near High Wycombe which supports bereaved families.

Lancaster Theatre, Wycombe Abbey, High Wycombe, February 18 to 20, 7.45pm. Details: 01494 522722, fourways.org.uk, thegardenplayersweb.co.uk