HEARTS will be conquered at this year's Ludlow Festival says international theatre director, Glen Walford.

The former Kidderminster High School pupil will be directing A Midsummer Night's Dream in the majestic surroundings of Ludlow Castle.

Glen, who grew up in Astley, said she was thrilled to be returning to the festival for her fourth year, adding: "I used to go to Ludlow Festival and love it. The castle was very intoxicating. I never thought I would be there directing though."

She made her Ludlow debut in 1997 with Much Ado About Nothing, her own adaptation of Hamlet was staged at the festival in 1998 and the following year she directed A Midsummer Night's Dream.

This year's production, which is Glen's own adaptation, promises to be bigger and better that the last and the Bristol University graduate said it would be "epic".

She added: "You have to be big in Ludlow Castle. The grandeur of the castle demands the grandeur of the production."

Glen said rehearsals in London had gone well and she was very thrilled with how all the performers, who arrived in Ludlow this week, had bonded.

"I'm looking forward to leading them to Ludlow Castle, like heroes, to conquer people's hearts," she added.

The director believes A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays as people like to laugh at themselves.

She plans to make the most of its comic moments saying: "I like to keep people on the edge of their seats and laughing."

Glen began acting and directing in the early 1960s, and worked at many theatres in the UK as well as founding the Bubble Theatre Company in 1971.

She has been the artistic director for numerous productions, such as Blood Brothers and the Rocky Horror Show, as well as her favourite, opera Tosca at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool in 1984, which was a tribute to her late father Ernest.

Her career has also taken her across the world where she has directed in different languages including Prometheus in Greek, and Blood Brothers in Russian.

Glen, who describes herself as "a real traveller at heart" has a basic grasp of several different languages, including Japanese.

She said: "I love learning foreign languages and working with an interpreter. It is fantastic to be working at that level. Every country you go to is different."

"In this country you are working in your own language so you don't have to work quite so hard."

The company is busy rehearsing for the opening night which Glen said she was looking forward to with a few nerves.

Even when the curtain goes up she will not be able to relax.

"It is incredibly hard - you have to take a back seat," she said.

"You worry all the time when you are a director. You see what's not there instead of what's there."

Although she admits when things do go wrong, theatregoers can be quite forgiving. "Audiences love accidents. It's almost as if they realise they are part of something special and it can be quite fun," she said.

But it will be not be all work and no play for the prolific director as she will be able to relax to the sounds of one of her favourite groups while at the festival.

She said: "There is a Rolling Stones tribute band in the castle on Sunday.

"I am a big Rolling Stones fan so I'm certainly going to make an effort to go to that."

Ludlow Festival opens on Saturday and runs until Saturday, July 8.

For further information and tickets contact the box office on 01584 872150 or log onto www.ludlowfestival.co.uk