THE Tavonians Theatre Company will shortly be holding a reading and auditions for their spring production, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Part of the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival in April, the production will also be toured to villages on and around Dartmoor.

The theme for the festival is 'Wild and Wondrous', which is a quote from a 19th century poem by Noel Thomas Carrington and is about Dartmoor — the Tavonians wanted a play that would fit the theme, and felt nothing could be more appropriate than this Conan Doyle classic.

Graham Dimmock, who will be directing The Hound of the Baskervilles, said: 'Simon Williams' 2002 stage adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles is built around a dance/chorus ensemble which evokes the shapes and sounds of the moor through voice and movement.

'The story is faithful to the original masterpiece but is sufficiently tongue in cheek to keep a modern audience fully engaged.

'Staged in the round, our production presents wonderful challenges to cast and crew with the reward of a very different theatrical experience involving music, dance, puppetry, comedy, melodrama and suspense!'

There will be a matinee and evening performance as part of the festival on Sunday April 25.

Performances in village halls will be within a couple of weeks either before or after that.

The reading will be on Wednesday October 21 and the auditions on Tuesday November 10, both at 7.30pm in the function room at The Ordulph Arms Kilworthy Hill, Tavistock. Rehearsals will start in January.

Auditions are open not just to current members of the Tavonians but to anyone else who is interested in joining the cast or the backstage crew.

Further information about the auditions or the Tavonians generally is available from Ali Fife, 01822 810897, [email protected]">[email protected].