A CELEBRATION of the life of Vera Lynn is among the highlights of the new season at the Rose Theatre, Kidderminster.

Later in the year, pluck and stiff-upper-lip give way to saucy sex, music, myth and magic, in a programme ranging from Alan Ayckbourn to C S Lewis.

Well-respected actress Maggie Ollerenshaw comes to Kidderminster for one night only on Friday, September 17, with her tribute to forces favourite Vera Lynn, Yours Sincerely.

October will include Ayckbourn's dark comedy Absurd Person Singular, a new comedy called Wayward Women and a breathless dash through The Complete Works of Gilbert and Sullivan (Pruned).

The work of local playwrights can be heard in Scream on Tuesday, October 16, with rehearsed readings of three new plays about men in desperate need of women.

The Nonentities join forces with Swan Playwrights for their first pro-am production, Double Trouble, in the studio from Monday, November 1 to Wednesday, November 6.

The saucy plays Shagathon, by Nick Corder, and Crisis Management, by Martin Drury, were selected from an open competition.

New talent will also feature in a variety show, Sunday Night Platform, on Sunday, November 7 and there will be an evening of songs and readings from the First World War on Tuesday, November 12 and Wednesday, November 13.

December includes an adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a pre-Christmas tonic, followed by festive fare in the Christmas entertainment.

The box office is open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, closing at 12 noon on Wednesdays. Call 01562 743745.