FANS in Wellington of The Archers on Radio 4 can look forward to a very special evening next month when a new theatre production with strong local links visits the area.

It’s called No Finer Life and stars Roberta Bellekom, grand-daughter of Joy, who lives in Courtland Road in the town. The show is at The Tacchi Morris Arts Centre on Sunday, April 2.

Graham Harvey, the writer of the show, also has local connections and has for more than 20 years been the agricultural story editor of the radio drama and writer of more than 600 episodes, responsible for some of the most famous storylines and best-loved characters. When he’s not plotting the next events in the Borsetshire saga, Graham is a smallholder himself on the edge of Exmoor.

Graham will be taking part in an after-show conversation – included in the ticket price – where he will discuss the issues in the play…and all things Ambridge!

Roberta studied at Oxford and East 15 Schools of Drama and has recently played Shakespeare’s Miranda in The Tempest, also appearing in productions of Animal Farm, Waiting for Godot, and One Way, a play she also wrote. The local connection is completed by Roberta’s father, Antony, who was brought up in the town and is a former producer of The Archers and now directs the show.

The play is set in the Oxfordshire countryside at the end of the Second World War and moves between the 1940s and the current day. What inspires a young Somerset land girl, brought up in Bath, to set off in search of a best-selling author in the darkest days of war? Her story reflects the timeless issues of love of the countryside, the need to protect it and national identity.

Young Elizabeth’s hero – like Graham – was George Henderson, whose book brought together wisdom about farming, anecdotes of Cotswold life and, more than anything, offered a dream of a better life. It was an immediate hit, a long lost classic and many of the 100,000 hardback copies sold were bought by servicemen who shared that hope.

The play tells Elizabeth’s story and is no fiction – now in her nineties, she and her family still run the same farm.

The show features new live music composed and performed by Alastair Collingwood, who has written scores for numerous theatre shows, including Betty in London’s West End, directed by Kathy Burke, and Cora with Dana Gillespie, which also toured the USA. His TV credits include the title music for French and Saunders (BBC1), Mad About Alice (BBC 1), Rhona (BBC 2), Vanessa’s Real Lives (ITV 1) and How Clean Is Your House? (Channel 4), among many others.

Tickets priced £12 (£10 concessions) are available from the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre box office on 01823 414141 or online at www.tacchi-morris.com/whats-on The show is also at Dulverton on Thursday, March 30.