FOLLOWING sell-out sessions on Broadway and in the West End The Pitmen Painters makes a welcome return to Malvern as part of its 2013 UK tour.

Bill Kenwright presents The Live Theatre Newcastle and National Theatre co-production of the show at Malvern Theatres starting tonight which runs until Saturday, March 30.

Written by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot), The Pitmen Painters has received huge critical acclaim and won the Evening Standard award for Best New Play.

In 1934, a group of Ashington miners hired a professor to teach an art appreciation evening class.

Rapidly abandoning theory in favour of practice, the pitmen began to paint.

Within a few years the most avant-garde artists became their friends and their work was acquired by prestigious collections; but every day they worked, as before, down the mine.

Examining the lives of a group of ordinary men who do extraordinary things, The Pitmen Painters is a humorous, deeply moving and timely look at art, class and politics.

The Pitmen Painters stars Joe Caffrey, Philip Correia, Suzy Cooper, Catherine Dryden, Louis Hilyer, Riley Jones, Nicholas Lumley and Donald McBride.

Tickets are priced between £18.50 and £26.50. Under 26s £8.

For more information or to book tickets call the Malvern Theatres box office on 01684 892277 or visit malvern-theatres.co.uk.