YOUNG men who would like to try their hand at acting are being sought by theatre company The Tavonians, which has announced its plans for the year ahead and hopes to attract new members as casting gets under way.

The first performances of the year will be given among diners at The Terrace Restaurant in Tavistock and the Moorland Garden Hotel near Yelverton, as The Tavonians present murder mystery evenings.

The venues become a seaside hotel in the 1920s as diners try to work out 'who dunnit' in 'Death on the Prom'. The performance tomorrow (Friday) at The Terrace is being put on in association with the Lions Club of Tavistock and is a fundraising event for the Tavistock Youth Café. The performance at The Moorland Garden Hotel is one week later on Friday, February 15. Bookings can be made with the venues.

On Thursday, February 28 there will be a play-reading of a one-act play immediately following the company's annual meeting.

Rehearsals will be starting soon for the next two productions.

In April The Tavonians will be presenting a unique evening of sketches as part of the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival and only a few weeks later there will be performances of an Alan Ayckbourn comedy.

The evening of ten comedy sketches, entitled A Totally Unreliable History of Tavistock, covers ten centuries from the time of the Normans to today; the recurrence of the number ten is in tribute to the Tavistock Festival's tenth birthday.

The sketches were written by Tavonians member Frank Woodcock and the performance is on Friday, April 26 at The Wharf in Tavistock.

A month later there will be performances at The Wharf of an Alan Ayckbourn comedy.

A spokesperson for The Tavonians said: 'It's hoped this will be Ten Times Table, a play about a committee organising a pageant, which was also selected to celebrate the festival's tenth birthday. This will depend on getting all the cast needed as so far there is a shortage of male actors who have auditioned.

'The director, Stuart Waterworth, is keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in taking part.'

The plans for the autumn include performances of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and again it is male actors who will be needed, in particular for the role of the older Pip, a chap in his twenties or so.

Anyone interested in joining The Tavonians or who would like more information can either visit http://www.tavonians.org.uk">www.tavonians.org.uk email [email protected]">[email protected] or phone 0845 519 6592 (free call).