A HOLLYWOOD professional is coaching Grassington Players for its upcoming autumn production.

Amanda Lawford, who recently moved to Grassington from New York, and whose film credits include Basic Instinct (1992), is helping the theatre group with accent coaching ahead of its October performances of A Bunch of Amateurs.

The comedy was written by Have I Got News For You panellist, Ian Hislop, and Spitting Image writer, Nick Newman, and follows a struggling village drama group in Stratford-St-John, Suffolk, which recruits a waning Hollywood actor.

The actor mistakenly believes he will be playing King Lear at the home of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon; but he later realises he has got his place-names mixed up.

Skipton solicitor and former Players’ chairman, Andrew Armstrong, will be returning to the Grassington stage to play the role of the Hollywood actor.

Ms Lawford will be helping him to perfect his American accent.

Mr Armstrong will be joined onstage by newcomer Becca Leavesey, a performing arts student at Craven College, who will play his daughter.

The production is directed by Anita Adams, who previously directed the Grassington Players’ amateur premiere of Calendar Girls: The Musical.

A Bunch of Amateurs will be performed on the main stage at Grassington Town Hall from October 1 to October 5, at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Saturday at 2.30pm.

Tickets are available from ticketsource.co.uk, from Grassington Hub on 01756 752222, or on the door, for £14.