Horrors of acid attacks portrayed

Such assaults are the subject of two short plays from local youngsters during a multi-cultural concert at Victoria Hall.

"Disfigured" and "Darkness in My Eyes" will be performed by 10 to 13-year-old girls from the Bangladeshi Community Association and Asian Women and Children's Centre.

The rest of concert features a variety of English and Asian musical styles from local and national performers.

The show will raise money to treat female victims of acid attacks in their native Bangladesh. The two plays focus on a woman who rejects a marriage proposal and is attacked by the jilted lover.

Headlining the concert is Alaur Rahman, one of the leading singers in Britain's Bangladeshi community.

As a teenager he gave concerts for the UK's South Asian communities then sang folksongs on BBC television.

Two decades on and Alaur and his group travel widely around the Bangladeshi communities of Europe.

Sanjoy Dey, another performer, is known for his repertoire of regional folk and Bengali modern songs.

He wanders from desert to forest collecting folksongs and has performed them around the world.

Sanjoy, who is inspired by the different ethnic traditions of India, is also a film and TV actor and has won several music awards.

Taposhi Payel Geeti is well-known for both her songs for children and folk songs from Bangladesh.

The Bengali artist, also an accomplished dancer, has appeared on TV and radio, as well as winning awards.

Performing a very different style -- "fat white Yorkshire reject estate kid music" -- is Rockin' Billy Trubshaw.

The "world's worst one-man rock and roll band and 70s throwback" is the alias of Bradford Council officer Jeff Bennett.

Completing the line-up is a circus performance, a musical medley from Sutton Amateurs and Asian music and dance from Purobi.

Tickets for tonight's 7pm concert cost £5 on the door, or £10 for families.

n It's Madness to be staging another concert of songs-from-the-shows but Sutton Amateurs aim to make it a house of fun.

They are drawing on the latest hit shows for next month's production -- West End Wonders -- in Sutton Village Hall.

The Madness song It Must Be Love -- pictured above -- is just one of the well-known songs from musicals old and new.

There will be medleys from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mamma Mia, The Lion King, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Les Miserables.

There will also be songs from shows such as Chicago, Calamity Jane and Tell Me On a Sunday, during the September 12 concert.

Tickets for the 7.30pm show cost £5, including supper, from Place's Place (Londis Stores), in Main Street, Sutton.

The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang medley will also be performed tonight during the multi-cultural concert at Victoria Hall.

n Bigamy, betrayal and an Internet chat room -- but it's all good clean fun.

That's the promise of producer Jeanette Wallace as she prepares the opening production of Keighley Playhouse's new season. Caught in the Net is the theatre's annual end-of-summer farce and as usual it boasts a top-notch cast. Seven amateur actors are bringing to Keighley the hit sequel to Ray Cooney's classic comedy Run for Your Wife.

The continuing adventures of John Smith, who has two wives in separate houses, focus on his teenage children.

The pair meet -- unaware they are related -- after chatting on the Internet.

John has another frenetic two hours as he tries to keep them apart while keeping his wives unaware of each other's existence.

Jeanette has directed plays for Keighley Playhouse for more than 20 years but says she still finds it hard to make everything look so easy to the audience.

She says the main difficulty for the actors is remembering which house they are in, since two living rooms merge on the stage.

Jeanette says: "There are two separate front doors and four other doors belonging to both households.

"There's action simultaneously in both houses. It can be confusing for us, but not for the audience of course."

John Cohen plays John and Kevin Moore his long-suffering best friend, with Joan Whitley and Julia Roberts playing the two Mrs Smiths.

Steven Clarke and Alison Broadley play the teenagers, while Robert Lister crosses from his usual haunt, Keighley Amateurs, to complete the cast.

Caught in the Net is presented Monday-Saturday (7.30pm). Buy tickets from Keighley Information Centre, in the town hall (today) or telephone 01535 604764.

n Romeo and Juliet dance the night away next month in Northern Ballet Theatre's award-winning production of Prokofiev's ballet.

The acclaimed company is staging the show for the first time in 12 years at the Bradford Alhambra.

The passionate retelling of Shakespeare's tragic story is set in the Italian city of Verona during high summer.

Theatre, dance, street fighting and swordplay are brought together in a fast-moving style from September 23-27.

Book tickets at Keighley Information Centre, in the town hall, or phone 01274 432000.

n The bickering couple from TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses come to the stage next week in Leeds.

How the Other Half Loves features John Challis and Sue Holderness, alias Boycie and Marlene.

They play one of three couples whose marital infidelities collide in Alan Ayckbourn's popular comedy.

Unfortunate blunders, merciless misunderstandings and utter confusion are promised at the Grand Theatre, from Monday to Saturday.

Book tickets at Keighley Information Centre or phone 0113 222-6222.

n Beep the Bus is instrumental in bringing musical fun for three to seven-year-olds tomorrow at 1.30pm.

It stops at St George's Hall for the latest Wheels on the Bus show featuring nursery rhymes, audience participation and sing-along.

Pure Opera offers highlights by the likes of Mozart, Puccini and Bizet at the hall on September 13.

Book tickets at Keighley Information Centre in the town hall, or phone 01274 432000.

n Auditions for Jack and the Beanstalk, this year's pantomime at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, will be held on September 28.

The show stars Jonathan Wrather, who played Coronation Street bad boy Joe Carter, and Pulse radio show presenters Elisa Hilton and Matt Cain.

Juveniles, who must be aged six or over and be no taller than 5ft, should enrol at 9.30am.

Intermediate dancers (minimum height 5ft, aged 14 plus) enrol at 12.30pm.

Seniors, who must have all-round dance ability, including jazz, ballet and tap (over 5ft and aged 14-plus), enrol at 2.30pm.

Phone 01422 351156 for details.

n Gilad Atzmon and the Orient House Ensemble perform jazz at Dean Clough, Halifax, on September 10.

Book tickets for the 8pm concert on 01422 255266.