CHARACTERS created by a Chester writer are to be brought to life on stage for the first time at a centre theatre.

Chester-based theatre company Against The Grain will bring to life the characters created by Jan Bengree with the premiere of Small Tales, a collection of three of Jan's one act plays at The Salisbury Studio Theatre at Chester Little Theatre.

With an additional date added due to the demand for tickets, the show will now run from Wednesday, October23 to Saturday, October 26, at 7.30pm.

Chester and District Standard:

Small Tales is the second major production to be staged by the company, following on from their successful debut production, Jan's "Wordly Women" which was staged at Storyhouse as part of the "Storyhouse Women" Festival, curated by Nicola Haigh.

Small Tales will feature two new pieces, The Fighter Pilot's Women and Ed's Wake, together with the reprise of a much-loved favourite, a monologue entitled "Joannie Next Door" which proved such a hit when first performed at Storyhouse in April.

Against The Grain was founded in April this year by a small group of local actors, writers and directors, who have made a substantial contribution to Chester theatre for many years, having been actively involved in many popular productions at The Forum Studio Theatre and Chester Little Theatre, including Bouncers, Fawlty Towers, Shirley Valentine, The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband, Habeas Corpus, The Flint Street Nativity, Breaking the Code, Useless Beauty, The Killing of Sister George and more.

Chester and District Standard:

Speaking about the pieces which make up Small Tales, Jan said "I am delighted to be once again working with Against The Grain and to see the characters being brought to life as they make the transition from the page to the stage.

"Each piece has humour and pathos in it and characters with which we can all identify, in The Fighter Pilot's Women, we have the sadness of a lost love as Dorothy reminisces about her finance, Ronald, a fighter pilot who was shot down in WWII and muses on what might have been. Dorothy is haunted by the ghost of both Ronald and his disapproving mother, Ruby.

"In Ed's Wake, we see Luke confront the demons of his past as he returns to his roots in Liverpool for a family funeral after an absence of many years. When he meets up with his Uncle's best mate, Rog in his old local, events take a surprise turn.

"In Joannie Next Door, we find gossipy, nosey neighbour Susan keeping her beady eye on her "holier than thou" next door neighbour Joannie from the the balcony of her flat in a Liverpool tower block, but, is all as it seems?".

For more information and tickets visit www.chesterlittletheatre.co.uk where tickets can also be booked online. Alternatively, contact TicketSource on 03336663366 (booking fees apply).