NEW Year, new talent - that is the situation at Kidderminster's Rose Theatre as resident group The Nonentities get 2002 underway with an "up-to-the-minute comedy".

Mr Wonderful is a play by James Robson, a writer new to The Rose stage - and the script was "top of the list" for Nonentities artistic director Liz Cole.

It is the story of a 45-year-old Norma Green, who is trying to find love through a dating agency before it is too late.

Her demanding mother, who lives vicariously off her daughter's experiences, is terrified that Norma will leave her.

Nonentities spokeswoman Pat Taft said: "Will she find her dream lover or be condemned to the companionship of the creepy and the calculating?"

Liz Cole said: "As soon as I read it, I knew we had to do it. Some plays, all very worthy and entertaining in their own way, just don't make it through to final selection.

"This was always top of my list, though. It's so well written. Audiences will love the characters, the humour, the surprises in the plot and the music."

Mr Wonderful runs from Monday until the following Saturday. More information is available from the Rose Theatre box office on 01562 743745.

The Nonentities are not the only group performing at The Rose during 2002.

Amateur productions of Carousel, by Kidderminster Operatic and Dramatic Society, and Hagley Theatre Group's version of An Evening With Gary Lineker, will also be on offer on the main stage during February and March.

And seasoned actress Honor Blackman will be bringing Wayward Women - including Marie Stopes, Coco Chanel, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Cartland and Eleanor Roosevelt - to life on March 17.

Professional group Hanover Productions presents The Man With The Golden Pen on March 23, while the amateur Once Removed Theatre Company bring a three-night run of Ghost Writer from April 25.