Rushen Players will present two contrasting one-act plays over three evenings next week.

Performances take place at the Erin Arts Centre, in Port Erin, on Thursday to Saturday, March 9 to 11, at 7.30pm.

The first half of the evening will be Caryl Churchill’s play, Escaped Alone, which will be presented on stage as a rehearsed dramatic reading.

And the second half will be the love story September Rain, by John Godber.

Adrienne Sanderson told Island Life Escaped Alone is ‘an unusual and thought-provoking play with both humour and pathos’.

‘The style has shades of Beckett, Pinter , Joyce,’ she said.

‘The setting is ordinary enough - three long-standing friends sit in a back garden on a summer’s afternoon.

‘As the tea and conversation lazily flow, they are joined by a neighbour who is given to interrupting the chat with long monologues, which she addresses directly to the audience.

‘A study in existentialism, full of apocalyptic visions, exploring the human condition and its fears, both personal and universal.

‘After each outburst the conversation resumes again. And through the threads of each character’s thoughts we find humour and warmth, offering hope through the strength of community, be it friends, neighbours, even open-minded theatre-goers.’

The parts of the three friends are taken by Ailsa Harrop (Sally), Naomi Howarth ( Lena) and Sarah Lockyer ( Vi). Catie Angus, who found the play, takes the part of the neighbour, Mrs Jeffries.

Adrienne said September Rain, directed by Susie Beswick, offered ‘something completely different both in style and presentation’.

Jude Dicken plays Liz, who likes to talk, the wife of Jack, an ex-miner and a man of few words, played by Jack Verity.

Liz and Jack first came to Blackpool as newlyweds in 1950. Thirty years on, they look back on their annual holidays, always at Blackpool, rain or shine.

As the action moves backwards and forwards through time, 30 years of married life unfold, through laughter and tears, boarding houses and fish and chips.

Adrienne said: ‘This warm and gentle study of enduring love – in a no- nonsense Northern kind of way – is sure to put plenty of smiles on faces, and just occasionally the odd tear.’

Tickets (£10 or £2 for under 18s) are available online at www.erinartscentre.com or from the box office, open Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 4.30pm.