ACTORS, singers and performers are being called upon to help build Thornbury's state-of-the-art theatre.

ACT, Arts and Community in Thornbury, is launching an ambitious project to put on a production of The Wigan Girls to be performed at Thornbury Leisure Centre for a week in July.

The Wigan Girls traces the fight for work and dignity by the coal pit lasses of Wigan.

Organisers hope the performances will demonstrate the need for a new theatre complex in Thornbury but also show-off the town's talent.

ACT, which was established in 2005, hopes to build a new £6 million theatre and arts complex in Thornbury. It is hoped the complex will include exhibition, rehearsal and performance space as well as providing a recording studio, cinema facilities and a place to meet.

In November it was announced that Catherine Johnson, the mastermind behind the cinema smash hit Mamma Mia, had become the founder patron of ACT.

The Wigan Girls will be directed by Barbie Davies, who was behind Thornbury Plays for the Millennium, a special town production put on to celebrate the year 2000, and will allow people of all abilities and talents to join in whether it is straight acting, singing, dancing or behind the scenes.

Full registration will be in the second week of February, but anyone interested should attend a public meeting to be held at the Turnberries, on Sunday, January 25 (8.15-9.30pm).

For more information email, ruthpiolle@tiscali.co.uk