Three sisters from Riddlesden are flying high after winning parts in a major new stage version of hit 1969 movie Kes.

Kerry, Sheena and Charlotte Leach are playing schoolgirls in the gritty tale of working class life at West Yorkshire Playhouse.

All three have been taking performing arts lessons for the past two years at Bradford drama school Scala.

Tonight sees the first of their 16 performances at the Leeds theatre alongside former Emmerdale actor Ian Kelsey. The leading role of a teenage loser who makes friends with a kestrel is played by Raymond Pickard who this week starred in TV film Rhinoceros with Robson Green.

The Leach sisters live in Southfield Avenue, next door to the Riddlesden Rest Home owned by their mother Helen. It is through Scala that the trio gained walk-on parts in several TV series such as Emmerdale, A Touch of Frost and Where The Heart Is.

Sheena, 14, also played a supporting role as a rebellious youngster in last year's ITV children's thriller Retrace. Charlotte, seven, will be the next one of the sisters to shine on TV, with a part in upcoming costume drama series Wives and Daughters.

And though their mother has had one walk-on TV role with a baby, she prefers to ferry her daughters to casting sessions and rehearsals.

Mrs Leach says her three children are very different, with Sheena and Kerry in particular taking very different approaches to their acting. She says: "Sheena definitely wants to be an actress but Kerry wants to keep her options open. She wants to go away to university to take a history degree."

In Kes, Kerry, 17, plays one of Raymond's teenage classmates, Sheena reads in a school assembly and Charlotte is a farmer's daughter.

Mrs Leach says the girls were thrilled to take part in rehearsals because other stars dropped in to watch, such as Michael Greco, who plays Beppe in Eastenders. The girls have also been getting advice from older members of the cast which could help them if they make acting a career.

Kes runs until May 8. Tickets are on sale from Keighley Information Centre in the town hall or by phoning 0113 213 7700.

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