FARMERS and rural life of a different kind will be on display at The Three Counties Showground in Malvern next week.

An open-air production of Thomas Hardy's great rural drama Far From The Madding Crowd is being staged by Worcestershire-based professional company Theatreworks.

The story has been adapted by Malvern writer Ali Gorton and has toured nationally, including at Worcester in 2003 when Stephen McGann starred as Gabriel Oak.

Ali has now reworked the production for open-air performance, for which it is particularly well-suited, say promoters, and the show will visit Malvern as part of its new national tour of historic properties.

Far From The Madding Crowd is set in the Dorset countryside in the 1870s and centres on Bathsheba Everdene. She turns down the hand of the humble shepherd Oak who loves her and sets out to become mistress of her late uncle's farm.

Her hand is won by the dashing Sergeant Troy but there is trouble ahead with a fire, storms, disease, murder and more, all mixed in with plenty of Wessex humour and song.

Basienka Blake heads the cast as Bathsheba once again, having played the role for the 2003 tour.

She has starred on stage, including in the West End and her TV credits include the likes of The Royal, Casualty, Doctors, Clocking Off, The Vice and The Knock, as well as Inspector Morse and London's Burning.

The show will be staged at the showground on Saturday, July 9 and returns on Wednesday, August 10 at 7.30pm, although the gates will be open at 6.30pm for picnickers. Tickets, £10 or cheaper, are discounted in advance and there is a £10 charge for a gazebo pitch. Call 01684 584924.