IN the year of the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, Pentabus Theatre Company will be bringing Each Slow Dusk to Heightington Village Hall, Bewdley on Saturday, November 8.

Focusing on people from rural communities, their experiences of the Great War and its legacy, the play charts the experiences of three young men serving on the Western Front, linking their stories to a woman today, just home to her village after a tour of the battlefields.

It is about how war touches the lives of ordinary people - the stories of friends and neighbours, the legacy of the horror, the forgiveness, and the coming together.

Putting the audience at the heart of the action, it transports them to the battlefields of 1914 and back again.

Playwright Rory Mullarkey said: “It's so exciting to write for a company which brings bold work to intimate spaces right in the heart of communities across the country.

"It's allowed me to write something both local and national, epic and personal, and I can't wait to see how audiences respond."

The cast includes Joanna Bacon, who has performed with the RSC and at the National Theatre, as well as appearing regularly in films and on television, including a recurring role as Janet in BBC sitcom Him and Her.

She will be joined by Lee Rufford, whose experience includes extensive rural touring with Forest Forge Theatre Company and Paddy Consadine’s debut feature film Tyrannosaur.

Pentabus was founded in 1974 with the aim of producing original work about the rural world for local and national audiences.

Over the last four decades, the company has produced in excess of 150 shows and reached hundreds of thousands of audience members across the country, as well as winning a prestigious South Bank Show award for White Open Spaces.

The tour of Each Slow Dusk is part of the company’s programme to celebrate its 40th birthday.

The show begins at 7.45pm with tickets, costing £8.50 or £6.50 student, available by calling 01299 822987.