York Settlement Community Players are staging Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory Of Water as their autumn production next week at the Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York.

Winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy, this wise and humorous play celebrates the lives of three sisters reunited on the eve of their mother's funeral.

As the sisters come to terms with each other and their loss, a rollercoaster of insights and denials ensues.

The principal roles go Beryl Nairn, as Theresa, Sharyn Gubbels, as Mary, and Judy Emerick, as Vi, and the cast is completed by Jessica Fisher, as Catherine, Tim Holman, Frank, and Graham Parker, Mike. The director is Helen Wilson, who played leading lady Shen The in Settlement's production of The Good Person Of Szechwan.

Publicity officer Lucy Turner says: "It's a challenging production suitable for sixth formers and upwards, in other words the over-15s. From what I've seen in rehearsal, it's a play full of angst and moving, raw emotion centring round nostalgia and memorabilia."

Playwright Shelagh Stephenson was born in Northumberland and writes stage and radio plays. Her latest, Enlightenment, will open next year at Abbey Theatre, Dublin.

The Memory Of Water will run from October 20 to 23 at 7.30pm nightly. Tickets: £6.50 on 0845 961 3000 or on the door.

Updated: 16:18 Thursday, October 14, 2004