A PRESTON actor is off to Italy to start a six-month stage tour.

Thespian Dermot Canavan, 37, of Fulwood, Preston, plans to join the cast of the Palchetto Stage Company, early this year for rehearsals of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

In the lead role of Prospero talented Dermot, who was taught by the director responsible for training Emmerdale's newest 'Soapstars', will tour several Italian cities including Milan in the north, Turin, Rome and romantic Venice.

"I'm really excited," said Dermot, a former pupil of St Pius X School, Garstang Road, Preston.

"I love Shakespeare and I'm really looking forward to working on the play with the rest of the cast."

Since leaving the Drama Centre, London, earlier this year, where he graduated with honours after completing a ten-month postgraduate course in drama -- one of only five students from 75 on the course -- Dermot has never looked back.

He has won roles in two London shows and performed in Shakespearian plays with members of the acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) at the famous Globe Theatre, on the South Bank.

"When I left college we were told that it would take some time to get a good job -- I haven't stopped working," said Dermot. "I've done three short films, plays in London and now I'm going to Italy. I've also had to turn down two pantomime parts.

"I had great training at the Drama Centre and worked with the sort of directors who regularly work on The Bill, Holby City and Brookside. One of the directors, Patrick Tucker, taught the Soapstars who were picked to join the Emmerdale cast."

But Dermot's talents are not only in acting, he is an acclaimed scriptwriter and has written the pantomime Hansel and Gretal for this year's Preston Playhouse performance, directed by Dermot's father Chris, a professional actor.

Dermot added: "Preston Drama Club is where I got my desire to be an actor after watching a performance of the Wizard of Oz when I was four. I would love to buy the place one day and turn it into a professional theatre."

Hansel and Gretal opens on Friday, December 21, with several evening performances and matinees throughout the month and in January at the Playhouse Theatre, Market Street West, Preston.

Refreshments will be available, including a licensed bar, and the theatre has wheelchair access and a loop system for the hard of hearing.

Evening performances start at 7.30pm, with matinees playing at 2pm, and there is free parking after 7pm.

For dates and tickets, priced £5.50, concessions £5, visit Tourist Information, Guildhall Arcade, telephone 01772 253731, or call the theatre box office on 01772 252288 after 7pm.