The team of actors of all ages will be supported by a 15-strong backstage team, ten front of house helpers plus families and friends. In all, nearly 100 Bathonians will be involved in the exciting groundbreaking tour.

Celebrating some of the best of Bath's theatrical talent, Next Stage will be performing its acclaimed performances of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials Part 1 and 2 throughout the week of August 20 to 24 at the famous Minack Theatre, Cornwall's magical open air cliff top theatre.

Regional premiers of both plays in Bath last month His Dark Materials got rave reviews and played to packed houses every night

The rights to perform the two plays have only just become available and it was thanks to the determination of artistic director Ann Garner that Next Stage was one of the first companies in the country to get the necessary permissions to perform the work.

Ann was almost pipped to the post too by another Minack company which was determined to perform the work there this summer. Ann got her booking accepted only one hour before another company wanted exactly the same deal.

Now set to woo Cornish and holiday audiences from all over the world, the Next Stagers have been rehearsing outdoors for the past two weeks re-blocking the show and expanding it for the larger auditorium.

A complete sell-out, the plays will be seen by nearly 6,000 people over five nights and two matinees.

Director Ann Garner says: "It is the greatest privilege to be invited to perform at The Minack. This internationally acclaimed theatre attracts visitors from all over the world. It is a quite unbelievably beautiful space and no one who performs there will ever forget the experience.

"This year, on our fifth visit, we are taking "old-hands" who have been in every Next Stage production down at the Minack as well as introducing many new people to the delights of the space. Everyone is excited now and can't wait to get going. We hope that this epic interpretation of Phillip Pullman's great trilogy will move and inspire people who see it in Cornwall as much as it did audiences in Bath."

To find out more visit www.minack.com