A MULTI-award winning play starring an academy award-winning actress is set to captivate audiences at a Worcestershire venue.

Humble Boy, written by Charlotte Jones, features Hayley Mills, star of stage and screen whose 30-year career includes oscar-winning Whistle Down The Wind and Pollyanna.

The play, presented by the Royal National Theatre, has recently enjoyed sell-out success in the West End and on Broadway where it was widely acclaimed as one of the finest new plays of recent years.

And it takes to the stage at Malvern's Festival Theatre between Monday, November 3 and Saturday, November 8.

Mills, who made her film debut aged 13 in Tiger Bay, stars as ex-bunny girl Flora mourning her bee-keeping husband James Humble (George Pye).

Set in a pretty Cotswold garden, this poignant and hilarious play follows the grieving Flora and astrophysicist son Felix, closely followed by daughter Rosie.

But this is sadness with a delicious sting in its tail where grieving is about to collide with philandering.

Gently echoing themes from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Humble Boy brilliantly explores love, longing and death with a haunting and unforgettable humanity.

The cast also includes Briget Forsyth as Mercy best known for her role in What Ever Happened To The Likely Lads and John Burgess, of Brookside fame, as Jim.

Tickets for the show range from £14 to £22.