A NEW play based on the inspirational story of Kidderminster legends Frank and Wynn Freeman will premiere in the town next month.

The Dancing Club charts the remarkable tale of the couple and their selfless drive to get people in their home town dancing.

The play – written and directed by Caroline Jester and produced by Pippa Frith – will open at Kidderminster College on Wednesday, February 28 before concluding in Cumbria on March 25.

After the Second World War, Frank moved back to his hometown Kidderminster and with Wynn’s support they realised a life-long ambition and opened a dance school in 1948.

Initially, Frank taught ballroom dancing and helped build up a national reputation but, as the decades came and went, the club moved with the times.

In their Dancing Club people learned the waltz one night and watched live music by Marc Bolan, Captain Beefheart and Led Zeppelin the next. Robert Plant was a good friend of the community champions.

A young Len Goodman gave demonstrations and judged the dance students at Frank’s school.

They became much-loved members of the community and the town came out in force for Frank’s funeral when he died in 1991.

Caroline Jester is a former dance pupil of Frank and Wynn’s and she interviewed over 100 Kidderminster residents to develop the show.

She said: “Frank Freeman's dancing club didn't just teach me disco dancing. It gave me self-confidence to do what I wanted to do.

“But it wasn't just me that he made feel special as I discovered interviewing people aged 25 to 90 for The Dancing Club.”

Original music for The Dancing Club is by composer Jon Bates and the performance will include a special recording from the Kidderminster Male Choir.

Choreography is by Steve Elias who got three Yorkshire towns moving in the 2017 BBC2 series Our Dancing Town.

A cast of four – Mark Jardine as Frank, Ali Belbin as Wynn and Laurence Saunders and Emma Clayton play a range of characters – portray accounts of opportunity and trust in the story of the dance teachers’ life-long commitment to Kidderminster.

It is presented in a traditional ballroom dance club setting and the show will even culminate in the audience to join the cast on stage to learn a dance.

The Dancing Club is funded by The Elmley Foundation, Arts Council England, Wyre Forest District Council, Worcestershire County Council, the Sir Barry Jackson Trust and support from Kidderminster College.

There will be two performances at Kidderminster College on Wednesday, February 28 at 2pm and 7.30pm. Tickets cost £8 or £6 for concessions and are available by calling 01562 820811 or at reception.

It will also be performed at St George's Hall in Bewdley on Saturday, March 3 from 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 via www.bewdleyfestival.org.uk