Toe-tapping spectacular arrives in Kenilworth

A cast of nine from the company - some of them novice tap dancers - are taking on Richard Harris’s Stepping Out, a play about a group of troubled adults who join a tap dancing school to escape from their woes for one night each week.

Eight of the nine are women - with the lucky man being Rob Wottoon, playing Geoffrey, who has reportedly been so enthusiastic about taking on the role that he took the trouble to enroll in tap dancing lessons in order to get him up to standard to make his tap debut on Monday August 27.

The play charts the progress of Geoffrey, along with his fellow lady tappers attending an adult class run by Mavis Turner, and culminates in a charity performance.

But along the way, the individuals begin to reveal more about themselves and their circumstances as the pressure starts to build.

Graham Underhill, who is assisting Wendy McClay in directing the production, said: “The group is made up of people who join the school because it’s the only chance they get to take some time off being with their awful families. It’s the only time these people have to do something purely for themselves.

“We have wanted to perform Stepping Out for a long time because it’s a play that has got a slightly different angle to it - and it’s also very funny. It’s similar to an Alan Aykbourn play.”

He added: “Rehearsals are going well. It’s a lively production - we are having a real laugh.

“The set is a dancing studio in a church hall, so there is a mirror on one wall - which is wall that the audience are looking at. So they are looking at themselves and when the actors are facing the wall, they are also facing the audience. It’s going to be interesting to see their reactions.”

The show runs at the theatre in Barrow Road from Monday August 27 (bank holiday) until Saturday September 1 at 7.30pm each evening. Tickets cost between £7 and £8.50 and are available by calling 856548.

The performance is the first of the season in which the venue is celebrating its 70th anniversary, with comedy, Shakespeare fantasty and pantomime to come later on in the year. For further details, go online.