BACK in the summer of 1943, Bette and Vera were travelling the country hosting tea dances for RAF fighter pilots stationed nearby.

What the locals don’t know is that the dance is a cover for the girls’ real purpose; to send the men off to fight having experienced all of life’s pleasures…

Just like the women on whom the show is based AIAWTC, or in full the Anonymous Is a Woman Theatre Company, will be travelling the country boosting morale with this heart-warming knees up and it will be appearing at several Worcestershire venues next month.

Audiences at Worcester’s Fleece Inn, the village hall in Fairfield, near Bromsgrove, Malvern Coach House Theatre and St Michael’s Village Hall in the Tenbury Wells area will be entertained next month by two women of a mission in Think of England, a rollicking new play about courage, bravery and swing dancing.

The audience will be invited to drink, dance, and raise a glass to good King George whilst watching this captivating drama about two women in WWII.   Developed with  ‘Live & Local’ as part of their ‘Developing Artists in Rural Touring’ Scheme, the play is supported by Arts Council England.

The local company is dedicated to bringing audiences high quality, engaging, theatrical experiences that tell the unheard stories of women throughout history and across the world.

The company was set up by two graduates of the Drama Centre London as a reaction against the lack of female roles in the industry. Armed with aspirations of gender equality the company wish to tell her-story from history. One half of the founding pair, Leila Sykes, grew up in Malvern, where the company is based and it’s dedicated to bringing their brand of high-quality, innovative theatre to the region.

In Spring 2016 the company did a critically acclaimed run of ‘First Aid Nursing Yeomanry’ at the Arts Theatre in London’s West End after a midlands tour in 2015, and now there is the chance to catch their new hit near you while you can!

The Worcestershire Tour dates are - Wednesday, November 9 at The Fleece Inn, Worcester, 8pm; Sunday, November 13 at Fairfield Village Hall, near Bromsgrove, 6:30pm; Wednesday, November 16 at Malvern Coach House, 7pm; and Thursday, November 17 at St Michael’s Village Hall, near Tenbury Wells, 7:30pm.

Also appearing at Malvern’s Coach House for one day only this weekend is the Huddersfield-based Dick and Lottie.

They return to the county with their productions of Alan Ayckbourn’s 1985 bleak fantasy comedy Woman in Mind and the 1989 family play Invisible Friends, both of which will be performed this Saturday, October 15.

One cast will perform both plays which are thematically connected and explore just what happens when a fantasy family take the place of a real one. Both plays have serious warnings - be careful what you wish for!

The company, Dick & Lottie, was formed by John Cotgrave and Richard McArtney in 2004 to perform the works of Ayckbourn and all their productions are premiered at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield.

Over the last 12 years they have established a company of professional and amateur actors who have performed, on average, three Ayckbourn plays each year. They have developed a wide audience base and attract full capacity at each production.