ILKLEY Players have been thrilling audiences all season with some performances of the highest calibre and the next production to get the IP treatment is Alan Bennett’s The History Boys which opens on Monday and runs until March 28.

The play, which is semi-autobiographical, charts the progress of a group of students during their final term at school. Bennett doesn’t disappoint with his typical witticisms and observations, it is both moving and amusing and director Miranda Armitage describes the work as “a play I have always wanted to direct” and her cast as “a joy”.

The casting committee have chosen local, young talent from Ilkley Grammar School and the surrounding area to portray the sixth-formers. The original West End production launched the careers of talented thespians James Corden, Dominic West and James Tovey, so watch this space...

With demand for tickets likely to be high (from mums, dads, families and friends wanting to see their stars in the making) don’t leave it too late to book.

There is a matinee only on Saturday, March 21 at 2.30pm and on Thursday, March 25 British Sign Language interpreter Keren Seabrook will be “signing” for the deaf and hard of hearing. A reminder that there is a rare opportunity to view A Month in the Country on Sunday, March 22 at 2pm. Set in 1920s rural Yorkshire and starring Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth it tells the story of a First World War veteran employed to carry out restoration work on a medieval mural discovered in a rural church while coming to terms with the after-effects of the war. With an original score by Howard Blake this is a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Tickets are £5 to include tea and cake.

On Saturday, April 11 the Playhouse’s David Higgins has compiled a Big Quiz and competitors are welcome to test their brain cells on a plethora of topics including geography, film, sport and arts among others. Tickets are £8 to include a pie and pea supper and there is a prize for the winning team. This event cannot be booked online so ring 01943 609539 to enter.

Another date for your diary is Saturday, April 18 for the first Stagefright Comedy Club of 2015. The line-up will be headlined by Jim Tavare who co-wrote and starred in the Bafta award-winning The Sketch Show and was the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron in the Harry Potter films. He is joined by Craig Deeley a former finalist in Channel 4′s So You Think You’re Funny? competition. Brummie Craig has a natural manner on stage and delivers hilariously barbed observational material with a self-effacing charm. “He possesses that rarity in British stand-up – natural charm – and has a keen eye for the unexpected quirkiness of the human condition” – bbc.co.uk.

Bilal Zafar is an east-Londoner with a charming onstage demeanour. Bilal’s material is a mix of the topical, the anecdotal and the mildly bizarre, doused in a liberal smattering of inventive imagery.

Tom Short is a stand-up, professional improviser and an award-nominated writer. Described as having “the mind of a socially awkward man”, Tom is happy to live his awkward life openly for the world to laugh at. “He looks so unassuming and then he’ll just casually drop in a blinding joke and you realise how great his writing is. Stealth comedy. The best kind” – The Skinny.

The guest compere is Kate McCabe, an American stand-up who gigs all over the UK and can also be heard on both Gaydio and Fab Radio International. A member of ComedySportz Manchester, she also performs both short-form and long-form improv in both the UK and the USA. You can catch her at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer as half of the show TomKate: Comedy Tandem with fellow stand-up and improviser Tom Short. Tickets £12, 8pm start, bar open from 7pm. Not been before? Come and see what you’re missing.

Go to ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk or call 01943 609539 for tickets and info.