AFTER waiting for more than three years, the Conquest Players are finally to put on Arsenic and Old Lace.

The classic comedy of murder and deception is coming to Bromyard after director Nikki Davis' determination paid off.

She said: "I saw Arsenic and Old Lace as a play a few years ago as a professional show in Malvern and I just fell in love with it.

"I've been trying to put it on in Bromyard ever since but for one reason or another it's been impossible."

But now she has found enough male characters to fill the various roles and preparations have begun in earnest.

Nikki said: "Every-thing's well under way. We're doing very well, it's coming along really nicely."

Included in the cast is former professional actor Fred Udall, who took the lead role on stage in Birmingham 30 years ago.

The tale, written by Joseph Kesselring, depicts the antics of two old spinster aunts who bump off their lodgers in acts of mercy.

As the play progresses, the aunts' relatives reveal themselves to be just as peculiar, including Theodore who believes he is US Pres-ident Teddy Roosevelt.

"It's incredibly funny, there's an awful lot of laughs," said Nikki. "I just love the old fashioned aunts. They believe totally in what they are doing, they are so innocent and quaint."

Arsenic and Old Lace is her second directorial production at the Conquest, the first being Alan Ayckbourn's How the Other Half Loves.

"I'm more used to getting on stage than ordering around people on it.

"I find directing absolutely terrifying but I love it. For me, if you can read a script and see what's happening in my mind then that's it - it's then a case of transferring it and seeing it come to life."

The play runs from Thursday, May 15, to Saturday, May 17, and from Wednesday, May 21, to Saturday, May 24, at the Conquest Theatre, Bromyard. Tickets for the shows, which begin at 8pm, cost £7 and £6 from 01885 488575.