FOLLOWING the huge success of its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre in 2011, Ludlow-based Pentabus Theatre is touring the critically acclaimed family drama For Once.

It is written by rising star and Olivier Award-nominated writer Tim Price and will be performed in village halls throughout Herefordshire.

For Once is a tender, heartbreaking and comic play that, through a series of intertwining accounts, cuts to the heart of a family and a community turned upside down by tragedy.

This show is intimate, touching and in places very funny. It’s the story of a family in a picture postcard market town whose lives are turned upside down when their son becomes the lone survivor of a teenage car crash.

The fallout after the crash is seen through the eyes of teenager Sid and his parents, April and Gordon, exposing the family’s already existing fault-lines.

Tim Price’s skill at capturing the revealing inarticulacy of the teenager, as well as his troubled parents, makes for unexpected humour.

Unusually staged, the village hall becomes an extension of the family home, with the audience seated on a variety of kitchen, dining or living room furniture, with the action happening in and around them.

Artistic director Elizabeth Freestone explains: “For Once is about a normal family experiencing an abnormal tragedy.

“The characters talk directly to the audience, confiding in them, laughing with them, crying with them. The feel of the show is intimate and special, putting top quality art into the heart of a community.”

For Once will be at Cawley Hall, Eye on Wednesday; Garway Village Hall next Thursday, February 28; Leintwardine Village Hall on Saturday, March 2; Lyde Court on Thursday, March 21; and Shobdon Village Hall on Saturday, March 23.

Information on all venues can be found at pentabus.co.uk.