ACTRESS Imogen Stubbs stars in Michael Frayn’s comedy about newspapers, Alphabetical Order, at Malvern Theatres next week.

The play, which opens on Monday, May 25, was a runaway success in the West End.

As a journalist himself, working on both the Guardian and the Observer, Frayn knows the world of newspapers from the inside and his play is set in a provincial newspaper office in the 1970s.

It is just another day of chaos in the all-but-useless newspaper cuttings library where the contents, if filed at all, will be in complete alphabetical disorder.

The emotional life of Lucy, the librarian, is equally chaotic as are the lives of the journalists who drift in and out of the library.

Into this world of chaos and confusion comes Lesley, young, keen, polite and with a passion for order and tidiness. Within a month everything has changed, but when the paper is threatened with closure a battle between order and complete pandemonium ensues.

Imogen Stubbs is regarded as a national treasure, one of the leading actresses of her generation. Her many stage credits include Othello, Betrayal, A Streetcar Named Desire and Three Sisters. She is well-known for the television series Anna Lee and The Rainbow.

The play runs at Malvern Theatres until May 30 and tickets cost from £16.50-£24.50. Call 01684 892277 or visit www.malvern-theatres.co.uk.