A RANGE of theatrical delights are in store over the next two weeks as a local dramatics group launches its own festival.

The Summer Festival of Theatre is the most ambitious project that St Albans-based theatre company OVO has ever undertaken.

It will feature 13 performances over 15 days at OVO’s Pudding Lane venue, consisting of one brand new production and three plays from the group’s 2010 repertoire – all of which attracted rave reviews from the Herts Advertiser.

The first play, Artist Descending a Staircase by Tom Stoppard, will be performed tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow. Playing Faustus by Imogen de la Bere will be shown on Saturday (June 12) and Sunday followed by a performance of Married to the Sea by Shona McCarthy.

Then the theatre company’s new production, All’s Well That Ends Well, will run between Wednesday, June 16 and Saturday, June 25.

And OVO regular Kieran Cummins is taking on a unique challenge as part of the theatre festival by appearing in five performances of three plays over four days.

He was born in 1963 in St Albans and has been acting since his school days at Nicholas Breakspear school which gave him a day release to the Watford Palace Theatre. Since then he has notched up a variety of theatre credits.

His trio of performances will provide some interesting dramatic contrasts. He starts as a sculptor in his twilight years in the first play and will then morph into Brian, a coarse actor in the second play, before playing a total of six parts ranging from a cheeky eight-year-old boy to a grandma in Married to the Sea.

All performances have been scheduled to avoid clashes with any of England’s World Cup games.

To find out more and to book tickets visit www.ovo.org.uk