FOLLOWING their multi-award winning last season, Summerseat Players are ready to get a new season underway at the weekend.

The society will be bringing their first production of the season of Northern plays to the Theatre Royal in Ramsbottom.

And A Nightingale Sang by C P Taylor tells the story of the Stott family and their attempts to “keep calm and carry on” throughout the trials and tribulations of life on the home front during the Second World War.

Rationing and air raids abound, but these public concerns pale into insignificance next to the private anxieties of the family. Grandad is preoccupied with keeping his cat safe from gas attacks, youngest daughter Joyce can’t decide what her heart does or doesn’t want; and Mam is convinced her Virgin Mary has a little more animation in it than a statue rightfully should.

But it’s the story of the eldest daughter Helen which lies at the heart of the play. Suffering from mobility issues since birth, Helen has very little self-esteem and has long since given up on the thought of meeting that special someone. That is until she meets Norman, a soldier who recognises her beauty and helps Helen to discover her self-confidence and belief that she is worthy of love.

Including many popular songs of the era, And a Nightingale Sang is a nostalgic, humorous and moving play set in 1940s Manchester.

And a Nightingale Sang, Theatre Royal Ramsbottom, Saturday, September 14 to Saturday, September 21. There is a preview performance tonight (Thursday). Tickets from www.ticketsource.co.uk/summerseatplayers