A WORCESTER woman is returning home to tread the boards tonight - and she will take to the stage for the first time in eight years.

Kirsty Cubberley, originally from Callow End, and an Alice Ottley pupil, was asked to step in at the 11th hour and take on the last performance of the one-woman show Sex And The City Of Westminster.

The 37-year-old was approached by the play's director and old school friend Emma Hands, also originally from the Faithful city, to take on the last performance of the play's run at Huntingdon Hall.

Emma felt Kirsty was capable of carrying off the taxing performance as archetypal Women's Institute character Verity Skinner at such short notice.

And Kirsty, who now lives in London, said she was nervous but excited about the role, which will see her walk on stage after a break from acting to have her two children.

"Going from doing not much to a one-woman show is quite a lot to take on, but I'm just going to jump in at the deep end and go for it. Now the children are older I felt I was ready to take on more, and I am really looking forward to getting my teeth into something. This piece is witty and interesting with lots of gossipy bits."

Sex And The City Of Westminster takes the audience through an amusing and unusual tour of Westminster, chronicling the misdemeanours of various politicians and kings and queens through the ages.

Feisty Verity guides the audience from Whitehall Palace - dubbed "a nursery of lust and intemperance" in the 1660s, through the streets of London.

Writer Mary Charter, whom Kirsty replaced, was inspired to write the piece after working as a Blue Badge Guide in the capital. She found tourists were fascinated with the more risqu elements of her tour and has since cleverly interwoven historical information with Verity's main character.

Kirsty, who is a former member Malvern Festival Theatre Players, said she hoped a lot of her family and old school friends would come and see her in her return to acting.

"It promises to be a really good night's entertainment in the company of an excellent character - Verity Skinner.

"I do hope that we can

then go on and take this play to other venues, but Worcester is a perfect place for me to start."

l Sex And The City Of Westminster plays tonight at Huntingdon Hall from 8pm. Tickets are £10, £9 (concessions available). Box office: 01905 611427.