THE Burnley Garrick Club is celebrating its 75th anniversary this season.

And to mark the milestone a season of special plays has been chosen, the showpiece being Twelfth Night, the club's first ever Shakespeare production.

Magic, mayhem and mirth are promised in the production, with a cast that includes Alan Hargreaves as Orsino, Alan Bailey as Sir Toby Belch and Adrian Hartley as Malvolio. The show will also have music from local musician Alan Whitham.

Director John Cummings, fresh from the success of last season's highly popular Harvey, promises a lively and entertaining production of this wonderful comedy.

He has assembled an awesome cast brimming over with talent - there are at least seven winners of Howard Rigg and NODA awards, and more than that number again have been nominees.

There are NODA winners and nominees working backstage too - the prompter has previously won an acting award; the set designer won an award for his set for Thrse Raquin and the lighting designer has had three NODA nominations.

John Cummings is himself a Howard Rigg award winner and NODA nominee for his acting, and was nominated for the best director NODA award for Thrse Raquin which actually took the best production award.

Such experience and expertise will ensure that, in a few short hours, the stage of the club's Burnley Mechanics venue will be transformed into Illyria, the mythical country into which Viola finds herself deposited after a shipwreck in which her brother was lost.

The production will run at the Burnley Mechanics on Manchester Road, from tomorrow until Saturday at 7.30pm. Ticket prices range from £3.50 to £6. For tickets call (01282) 664400.