AN ENTHUSIASTIC acting troupe is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

St John’s Players have been performing in and around Worcester since 1949. Tonight - Tuesday, Ocotber 20 - the am-dram group will mark the milestone with a production of light-hearted comedy Party Piece.

“The group has changed quite a bit over the years,” said show director Ray Archer, who joined the Players in 1969.

“People move around. They come and go, but we've done quite well and we're still going.”

The group was established during the inaugural meeting of Worcester St John’s Church Drama Group in February 1949.

It was a small gathering of would-be actors and drama-lovers, led by the Reverend John Mort, and at first they performed one-act plays in local schools and church halls.

In 1950 members staged their first three-act play; Yellow Sands by Eden and Adelaide Phillpotts.

In 1953 the group broke away from the church under the name St John's Drama Group and by the 1960s the company had moved into the city’s brand new Swan Theatre.

Over the years the Players, who now meet in Claines and Barbourne, have graced stages in Worcester, Droitwich and Bromyard.

There is a wide range of plays in their repertoire, but a noticeable preference for fast-paced comedy.

Party Piece, written by Richard Harris, is set during a fancy dress house warming party.

For the Players’ longest serving member Anne Smith it is a chance to once again take centre stage. She will be joined on stage by fellow group stalwarts Trevor King, Christine King and Julie Sadler.

Party Piece runs at the Swan Theatre until Saturday, October 24.

For tickets, priced £7 to £9.50, call the Worcester Live box office on 01905 611427 or see worcesterlive.co.uk for more details.

Anyone interested in joining the St John's Players can call secretary Dorothy Colman (CORR) on 01905 611597.