A FEAST of "olde time" entertainment, including melodrama and music, is set to entertain theatregoers in Kidderminster as 30 members of Worcestershire Federation of Women's Institutes take to the stage.

The WI Variety Playhouse is being performed at The Rose Theatre on Friday, June 18, and Saturday, June 19, and will feature enthusiastic members from across the county, including branches throughout Wyre Forest.

All 30 costumes for the event - which include bustles and hats - are being made by retired seamstress, Joyce Allen, from Cookley, while rehearsals for the event have been under way since February.

An art exhibition of paintings by members is also being shown at the theatre's art gallery.

Callow Hill 62-year-old, Judy Neale, who has been chairman of the performing arts committee of Worcestershire Federation of WI for five years, said: "We've got melodrama, mime, duets and sketches and have called it a 'potpourri of olde tyme entertainment' and we're having great fun doing it."

She added: "We've chosen to perform it at the Rose Theatre because this sort of show needs an intimate theatre as there is a lot of audience participation.

"We are really relying on the audience to join in with singing and cheer on the heroes and boo the villains and the Rose lends itself to that very well."

Mrs Allen, of Castle Road, Cookley, added she had made 15 of the costumes in less than two months and was well on the way to completing the rest. The 70-year-old grandmother of five - who has been making dresses since she was 15 - said: "I used to make costumes for an operatic society in North London so I've had plenty of experience."

Tickets for the WI Variety Playhouse can be obtained by calling the Rose Theatre box office on 01562 743745.