By Gillian Ellison

Last updated 16:02, Wednesday, 10 September 2008

BRINGING first class entertainment to the community is the aim of Arts Out West.

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shirley-valentine style comedy: Sex and Chocolate

And with the launch of the latest programme there is plenty of entertainment coming to a venue near you.

It will bring theatre, drama, comedy and music to local village halls.

On Friday, October 3 at Ravenglass, AJTC theatre company will present On The Black Hill, the story of twins who lived all their life on the same farm in mid Wales.

The play promises to be humorous and poignant and is enhanced by atmospheric music played live on the cello.

In complete contrast, actress Fiona Knowles roars into Drigg on October 11 with Sex and Chocolate, a Shirley-Valentine-style comedy thriller about life, love, mobsters, motorbikes and Maltesers!

On October 17 at Haile, near Egremont, Penrith-based Quondam Theatre Company will present The Last Waltz, a romantic comedy with live music set in and around a signal box on the Cumbrian coast line.

The music programme has a strong international flavour and includes unusual singing trio Mad Agnes on a whirlwind tour from Connecticut, USA.

They will be appearing at St Bees on October 4.

They promise a multitude of instruments, plenty of humour, lively story-telling and intricate harmonies.

Getting you dancing, a pan-African group Batanai! will be bringing a spectacular and vibrant stage show to Ullock on October 18.

Members of Batanai are working in Seascale and other primary schools for two weeks in October, in a residency funded by Awards For All.

British boogie-woogie piano maestro Bob Hall joins forces with renowned Canadian Blues artists Chris Whitely and Diana Braithwaite for It’s A Raid! – a light hearted musical look at the history of 1920s Chicago.

This can be seen at Kirkland and Waberthwaite on October 24 and 25.

The Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Ben Osborne, will be at Bootle Station and Eskdale Village Halls on October 22 and 23 He will be bringing his audio-visual shows based around the BBC series Planet Earth and Life In The Freezer, for which he was the stills photographer.

Arts Out West is funded by Copeland, Allerdale and County councils and the Arts Council.

It now operates in over 25 venues from Ireleth, near Barrow, to Kirkbampton, near Carlisle.

The aim is to keep ticket prices affordable and keep village halls well supported.

The autumn brochure is now available from libraries and tourist outlets.

If you’d like to join the free mailing list, and have the brochure sent direct to your home, or find out more about how your community can be part of Arts Out West, contact the co-ordinator, Bob Pritchard, on 01946 593040 or e-mail: bob.pritchard@copeland.gov.uk