A PLAY written by local actor Nick Wilkes which takes a wry look at the lives of four out-of-work actors waiting for their big break is just one of the forthcoming productions featured in Malvern Theatres summer season brochure.

And there’s plenty more drama coming to the Malvern stage between now and September, ranging from the serious, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, to the mysterious, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, and the comic, The English Game, Dad’s Army and Alan Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking, starring Angela Thorne and Peter Bowles.

The musical offerings for this season are equally diverse, with The Russian State Opera of Siberia currently presenting La Boheme (until Saturday) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific arriving at the end of June. The wartime musical with unforgettable songs, including Some Enchanted Evening, Happy Talk and I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair, stars Dave Willetts and Helena Blackman, runner-up in BBC TV’s How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

The packed programme includes plenty of familiar names from TV, among them Kim Hartman (‘Allo ‘Allo), Julia Mallam (Emmerdale), Carly Hillman (Eastenders) and Ben Roberts (The Bill) in the hilarious parody of life in an English girls’ boarding school long ago, Daisy Pulls it Off; while Catherine McCormack and Niamh Cusack (Heartbeat) star in The Portrait of a Lady, Stephanie Cole stars in Peter Nichols’ Born in the Gardens and Alison Steadman comes to Malvern in Alan Bennett’s Enjoy.

Booking has also opened for the Yamaha International Piano Series, a new recital series for Malvern, featuring four internationally renowned pianists – Peter Donohoe on Thursday, September 18; John Lill on Thursday, October 30; Noriko Ogawa on Friday, February 27, 2009; and Nicolai Demidenko on Friday, April 3, 2009. Tickets for all four concerts can be bought for the price of three. Call the box office for details.

Classical music is well represented throughout the season, with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra performing the Elgar Cello Concerto, the Armonico Consort presenting Monteverdi Vespers and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart and Dvorak.

Comedy comes in the form of Ken Dodd, Lee Evans, Jethro and Roy Chubby Brown and there’s sure to be dancing in the aisles with a great line-up of tribute acts paying musical homage to, among others, Abba, Queen and Elvis, The Bee Gees, the Beach Boys and Billy Fury.

Visit malvern-theatres.co.uk for full details of the great summer season of entertainment, or call the box office on 01684 892277 to request a brochure.

l Meanwhile, booking is also now open for this year’s panto, Aladdin, which opens on Thursday, December 18, and runs until Sunday, January 11.

Aladdin stars former Casualty doctor, Clive Mantle, with further star casting to be announced.