Creative people from Cradley and beyond are being sought to help mount one of the region's most ambitious arts projects.

The Crowns of Cradley is a huge community play that will bring village history to life by means of drama, dance, music and images, depicting events like the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the First World War and the Silver Jubilee of 1977.

Funded by grants from the Arts Council and other bodies, the £60,000 production will be staged in a 150-foot long "tented theatre" at the heart of the village, with 250 raised seats and full lighting and sound rigs.

With auditions for the 100-plus cast of adults and children complete, the hunt is now on for the large back-stage team needed to make these ambitious plans a reality.

Leading the search is the event's producer, writer and broadcaster David Robertson, who is currently devoting about half his time to the project.

"This is an enormous, and enormously exciting, venture," he said.

"To make it happen we need a small army of creative and energetic volunteers. They'll work in fields as diverse as catering and costumes, woodwork and web design, set-building and site services, music and marketing, painting and parking, as well as lighting, sound, choreography, graphics, insurance, security and many more."

A few of these tasks call for theatre experience, but most do not.

Instead, David is seeking people with energy, imagination, common sense and, above all, a willingness to get stuck in.

To kick off the recruitment drive, David and writer/director Peter Diamond are holding a production evening at Cradley Village Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday (May 16).

"We'll explain what's envisaged, describe the jobs on offer and encourage people to join us," he said. "I suspect very few of us will have been part of something as big as this before or will get the opportunity again: this really is the chance of a lifetime."

Anyone who wishes to know more can contact David on 01684 573780 or ResponseCo@ aol.com.