SIDMOUTH is once again getting ready for its unique summer programme of entertainment – the beautiful south Devon town’s Manor Pavilion theatre hosts the country’s only surviving summer rep season, which started on 24th June and continues to 21st September.

This year audiences for the three-month series of plays will be treated not only to the familiar mix of crime and comedy, but also to some newer and more adventurous plays and a brand-new epic comedy-thriller by the creator of the brilliant four-person adaptation of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps.

The season continues with Peter James’ police thriller Looking Good Dead, Alan Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular, Terence Rattigan’s wartime drawing room comedy, While the Sun Shines and Ira Levin’s Deathtrap.

It ends with an absolute epic as Sidmouth stages one of the greatest stories ever to grace the wide screen – Ben Hur. Apart from the Charlton Heston epic film, Lew Wallace story set at the time of Jesus Christ and the occupation of Judaea by the Romans, was famously staged in late 19th and early 20th century theatres, particularly in the American south west, often with real chariot races (with horses!) This version by Patrick Barlow features just four actors, but we are promised the chariot race – and a sea battle (with actual water)! It runs from 16th to 21st September.