A THEATRE group will celebrate its golden anniversary with three productions.

The first of the plays performed by the Phoenix Players will be Somerset Maugham's Home and Beauty, which is set in the armistice period after the First World War.

The playwright saw the funny side of a situation in which the wife of a soldier, whom she had presumed was killed in action, marries again only to discover her first husband is still alive.

The play opened in London in 1920 and has had several revivals since then.

It was turned into a Hollywood musical starring Betty Grable and Jack Lemmon in 1955 and then the BBC televised the play in 1979.

More recently, it opened in Windsor with Victoria Hamilton and Jamie Theakston and it later transferred to the West End.

Home and Beauty opens at the Arts Centre, Devizes Road, on Wednesday September 22 until Saturday September 25.

There will also be a matinee on Saturday afternoon at 2.30pm.

In January, the players will present the drama the Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan and in April, the modern comedy Trivial Pursuits by Franck Vickery.

To book tickets for Home and Beauty call Dennis Reynolds on 01793 525616.