A man who suggested Keigh-ley College run its own comedy course is to have his first play performed on the stage.

Long Lee man Eric Yaffey's 45-minute comedy 2001am is a satirical comedy about the Millennium Dome. The play won the recent Skipton Little Theatre playwriting competition and will be produced at the theatre next week. A seven-strong cast of amateurs will perform from Tuesday to Saturday alongside the competition's other winning entry.

Eric, 32, has been writing for several years and has won awards for short stories in competitions run by Airedale Writers Circle. Three years ago he called on Keighley College to organise an academic course in the art of making people laugh.

Eric says his play won the latest competition due to its originality and strength of plot. It is set in a courtroom and features a real-life magistrate playing a man who pretends to be a judge.

Eric is excited about the prospect of seeing his work rehearsed and finally being performed in public. He says: "So many people write things that don't get produced. I've got a vision in my head and when I see it reflected back in reality I'll learn so much."

Eric is now working on a full-length comedy tinged with tragedy about Luddites in the area around Halifax and Liversedge.

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