Three very different pieces of theatre will be performed by a southern theatre group this weekend for their Easter shows.

Rushen Players will present three nights of one-act plays, featuring local actors performing short plays written by some of the best-known playwrights in the UK.

They will showcase wide-ranging and varied themes, at the Erin Arts Centre, in Port Erin on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (March 15 to 17), each starting at 7.30pm.

Mollie Workman and Michael Williams will star in ’Heart in the Ground’, written by Douglas Hill.

Set in Derry, Ireland and directed by Nathan Rea, the thought-provoking play is described as a ’powerful and moving story of love, reconciliation, healing and hope’.

It was recently performed at the One Act Festival of Plays, where the cast were praised for their accents and were also nominated for ’Best Dramatic Moment’.

Alan Bennett’s famous one-character play ’A Cream Cracker Under the Settee’ will be performed by Pat Clewes, under the direction of Catie Angus, who will recreate the role of ’Doris’, the feisty, independent 80-year-old who lives alone in her home in Yorkshire, and is determined not to end up living in a Care Home.

This role was made famous in a memorable TV adaptation starring Thora Hird in 1988. The final play is a charming and funny take on the relationship of two old friends.

’The Duck Variations’ is written by the famous American playwright, David Marmet, and features Brian Matthews and Graham Roberts as the two men who spend their afternoons on a park bench, philosophising and generally putting the world to rights.

Adrienne Sanderson directs the play, which she describes as a little bit different, and a lot of fun.

’ Arguments and ridiculous flights of fancy abound as the two friends try to outdo each other with their ’superior" ’knowledge of absolutely everything,’ said Adrienne.

’We see them competing, teasing, challenging one another and resorting almost to fisticuffs at times. This is a most unusual play imagined by the writer to be played as the fourteen movements of a musical piece, with a few seconds of "resting" between each movement.

’I think of it as Beckett meets Bach by way of perhaps, the Two Ronnies.’

Adrienne also directs a monologue, performed by Sharon Roberts and written by Michael Frayn, in which the character reveals and explains her many sins in a conversation with God.

’The whole evening is a rich and diverse feast of drama at its very best,’ said Adrienne. ’We hope you come along and enjoy.’

Tickets are £10 and £2 for 18 and under, available from the EAC box office on 832662.