ARE you ready for a blast of autumn sunshine? Then the Lawrence Batley Theatre is the place to be next week when the team from Huddersfield Thespians pack the house with laughter as they prepare once again to follow the fish-packing ladies from Hull on their latest adventure.

For anyone who saw last year’s production of Ladies’ Day, Amanda Whittingham’s warm-hearted tale about the fish filleting foursome celebrating a day out in style at the races, this is a racing certainty of a good night out.

But for those who didn’t see the girls first time out, the odds are that Ladies Down Under, which takes our fab four off on the trip of a lifetime to Australia, will be just as much of a winner.

Director Veronica Moran is delighted to have the same core team of Louise Hardy, Melanie Duff, Lynne Whitaker, and Tania Smith back at the heart of the show and to be using some new faces who have only recently joined the Thespians ‘ ranks.

She’s recruited bags of technical expertise off stage too bringing in Chris Brearley to ensure that with a little bit of theatre magic, the cast and audience will be transported to Oz.

“I’m so thrilled that we are able to use back projection so we’ll have all the sights of Sydney, the airport, a surfer’s paradise, even bush fires.

“Chris has also been a fantastic help with some of the costumes we need,” said Veronica.

“He’s played the Dame for many years for the Huddersfield Light Opera Company and is known for the fantastic costumes he puts together.

“He’s been helping us with a couple of the more surprising characters that the girls meet along their journey.

“Chris has been absolutely brilliant. He’s helped with costumes and he’s doing the production work. It’s been quite a complicated show.”

So much so that some of the cast have been consulting expert Sean, at The Base Studios in Huddersfield’s New Street, who has been helping them with their dance moves.

“The cast have been working really hard and Sean’s been a great help,” said Veronica.

Maria Sykes is also part of the team, doing the make-up to ensure that Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda, and their new-found friends Down Under are looking good

“The girls who were all in Ladies’ Day, had great fun with that show but think this is even funnier.

“We had a great show with that last year and we hope some of the people who saw that and enjoyed it will come to see what the girls get up to this time.

“But if you didn’t see Ladies’ Day, it really doesn’t matter. This is a stand alone story about this incredible group of women who get so much out of life.”

Ladies Down Under opens on the LBT’s main stage on Tuesday (October 9) with performances each evening at 7.30pm plus a Saturday matinee at 2.15pm. The box office is on 01484 430528.