STOURBRIDGE'S award-winning Side by Side theatre company is taking its new production The Trial of Peter Pan to The Door at Birmingham Rep later this month.

The group of learning disabled actors will perform a free 20-minute extract from The Trial of Peter Pan, their 18th annual show, at the Broad Street venue on January 31 at 12.30pm.

Side by Side, who have won a host of awards and rave reviews over the years, have been taking on new challenges year on year.

Last August, they took their play Illyria-on-Sea, their version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, to the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival where they received critical acclaim.

This year they will be revising an extract from Illyria-on-Sea to perform in June at Stratford-upon-Avon's Courtyard Theatre - as they are part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Open Stages project for 2013 to 2016.

They are also busy working on their new production - The Trial of Peter Pan - which will be performed in full at Stourbridge Town Hall in June.

The brand new music and dance outing centres on 47-year-old Peter Pan, who still thinks he's a boy and who is on trial for not growing up.

Sue Wallin, the company's artistic director, said: "He is given bail to go back to Neverland to help the fairies regain their treasure, which has been stolen by the pirates. Then he must return to face judgement, where Wendy’s great-granddaughter Angela is his defence lawyer."

Sue, who herself has received an MBE for her work with Side by Side, describes the group's achievements as "remarkable" and she added: "The fact that these actors are independent on the stage, without helpers, gives them enormous self- esteem."

Tickets to see the Trial of Peter Pan at The Door, at The Rep, are available free of charge from the box office on 0121 236 4455 or by emailing ticketsevices@birmingham-rep.co.uk - or to find out more about Side by Side check out www.sbstcs.org/