WHAT do you do when three women you know all reach a stage in their lives when they develop an interest in New Age beliefs?

Kim and Lynn Davies, a husband and wife team from Evesham, claim to know three such women and used them as inspiration for a fascinating new play.

Wayward Women is a character-based comedy with dark twists which examines a trio of modern women, all at different ages and stages in their lives, each of whom are beginning to explore a new spiritual path.

The play is the first professional production to come out of the Davies' new company Kayelle Productions which the couple set up in April.

Lynn, whose writing name is Simon Andrew Stirling, has plenty of experience as he is an award-winning screen writer and playwright with a wealth of credits in television, radio and theatre.

He was also director at the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury.

His wife Kim deals with the marketing and financial side of things although the pair have co-directed Wayward Women and so far it has proved to be a hit with audiences across the county since it took to the road at the beginning of the month.

Lynn told the Evening News the inspiration for Wayward Women came about a year-and-a-half ago when three women he and his wife knew began to develop an interest in paganism and witchcraft.

"These were women who had had interesting lives with a few knocks along the way and I found myself wondering whether this new dawn was something to do with the age they'd reached or a way of putting their past into perspective," he said.

"The play examines their friendship which has developed because of their shared interest.

"It is their zany relationship which is what gets each of them dealing with it."

Lynn said that by and large the play is a funny piece although he doesn't deny it has its dark moments.

There have been occasions where a small minority of audience members have walked out at half time due to the nature of some of the content.

"This is a play about women creating a relationship with goddesses," he said.

"To do this they have to develop a relationship with their own sexual organs and this involves talking to them.

"Maybe this is why it has been described as a cross between the Vagina Monologues meets the Witches of Eastwick.

"A few people have taken offence at some of the material but the vast majority find it hilarious."

Lynn added that now he and Kim know Wayward Women works they are hoping it will tour farther afield, but for now they are happy to keep it local.

And the actresses that appear in the play are also home-grown talent.

"Sarah Thomas-Lane is the darling of the production and is from Droitwich - this is a case of a local girl coming back to her roots and triumphing," Lynn said.

"Kay Little is from just down the road in Cheltenham, and Erin Geraghty, who spent three years in BBC Birmingham's hit TV series Angels is staying with her sister in Droitwich."

Kayelle Productions may only be in its sixth month but already Kim and Lynn pride themselves on excelling in the fields of theatre and media prodution and education.

As well as producing plays, of which a second is due shortly, they also work with schools and community groups delivering theatre and drama skills and creative writing.

The pair have also written a book about the history of the Scottish island Iona where they got married and a second could be in the pipeline.

Wayward Women will be playing at the Rose Theatre in Kidderminster tonight, at Upton-upon-Severn Memorial Hall on Sunday and at Lifford Hall in Broadway on Tuesday.

For further venues visit www.kayelle.co.uk

For tickets call 01386 871583.

BRIEFLY

what's going on

n A haunted museum is preparing to host its scariest Hallowe'en ever from Friday, October 29 to Sunday, October 31.

Brave visitors to The Falstaff's Experience in Stratford-upon-Avon will have the chance to take part in the Great Ghost Hunt where they will be led through the museum by lantern and witness mediums experiencing the paranormal in front of their eyes.

There will also be midnight vigils and Hallowe'en family fun throughout the three-day event.

For more information visit the website at www.falstaffsexperience.co.uk or telephone for an information leaflet on 0870 350 2770.

n UPTON Arts Music Group will present soprano Diana Sharp, mezzo Dawn Foxall and Janine Smith on piano in Sirens, due to be performed at Upton Memorial Hall on Saturday, October 30.

Tickets cost £4.50 on the door (£1 students and children) and are available from 01684 593465 or e-mail michael.jebson@btopenworld. com

Listen up and tune in to the orchestra

WORCESTER Philharmonic Orchestra is set to raise the roof at Pershore Abbey tomorrow.

On the bill is The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra as well as a programme of Tchaikovsky music including Capriccio Italian, March Slave and The Nutcracker Suite.

The concert is part of the Listen Up! Festival of British Orchestras celebrating the diversity and range of orchestra life up and down the UK.

Tickets for the 2.30pm concert cost £8 for adults, £7 for concessions and £5 for students and are available on the door, from 01905 359247or from the Tourist Information Centres in Malvern and Worcester.

Getting to grips with real life as curtains open on kitchen drama

A BLEND of grit and grandeur, masks and music and getting a grip on the stuff of real life is being offered by the Riding Lights Theatre Company in Hope Opera, at Alice Ottley School in Upper Tything on Wednesday, October 27.

Imagine a kitchen in a house down the road from you.

A mismatched group of people with scarred and tattooed fists trading tales of their great scrapes and escapes.

This is a place where people live their own stories and where sharing it could open a window on eternity.

Hope Opera is an overview of a place at that table with the mix of heroes and hopeless cases including a boy with nothing but tattoos to his name, a girl whose curiosity got the better of her and a man made of anger.

Tickets for the 7.30pm show cost £8 (£5.50 concessions) and are available from the box office by telephoning 0845 9613000.