KENDAL Yarns was one of the most innovative and imagination pieces of theatrical entertainment ever staged in our region. A huge and exciting undertaking put together by Kendal Community Theatre, the groundbreaking festival starred a staggering 58, new 15-minute plays penned by writers of all ages and performed in a host of yards and venues across Kendal.

Hundreds turned out last July across the highways and byways of the town to watch the theatrical results put together by artistic director Chris Taylor's and his highly ambitious team.

After the week-long community experience that thronged the streets of Kendal in summer 2016, six of the many gems from the Kendal Yarns Festival of New Plays are being aired once more, this time all staged indoors.

Best of the Fest runs at Staveley Roundhouse, from Wednesday to Saturday, April 26-29 and rehearsals are in full swing.

Featured will be Kendal Date Night by Laura Howard, a local writer who was unable to see her play being performed last summer as she was on her honeymoon.

Emilia Unia who wrote Dance with Me couldn’t watch her play either as the former BBC Radio Cumbria journalist was sent by the BBC to cover the run up to the United States election.

Bridges Apart was penned by Hannah Sowerby, a university student. Hannah's play - her first - has real local significance as an embryonic romance revolving around the bridge broken in Staveley by the 2015 floods.

Hannah’s Choice was written by Sheelagh O’Brien. Again, another debut play, Sheelagh is an acting talent well-known on the local stage. Apparently, her play is based on original and upsetting local history research with a most graphical ending.

Another in the spotlight will be Martin Chambers’s play Girl Fishing. A member of the North Cumbria Script Writers, Martin has had several of his plays performed in Penrith, Workington and Cockermouth. Martin's story centres on Romney’s muse, which returns to the banks of the Kent and Abbot Hall.

John Scott is a local writer and a winner of the BBC Radio Scotland short story competition and has appeared at the literary cabaret, Spotlight in Lancaster. His Best of the Fest contribution will be Men of Progress, which looks at how ‘spin’ gets behind fracking and snuff.

In the director's chair will be Jayne Davies and Emma Rucastle, who were both part of Kendal Yarns Festival of New Plays. On stage will be some new faces among the 18 actors from Kendal Community Theatre who find themselves in mainly fresh roles. And this time there’ll be no scripts allowed.

For those who missed the entertainment the first time around or would like a repeat performance tickets are available from www.staveleyroundhouse.com.

Performances start at 7.30pm.