CRADLEY Village Players are putting women centre stage in an ambitious double-bill that celebrates their courage, confidence and creativity.

In November, it will be 100 years since the First World War ended and women first got the vote.

To commemorate these key anniversaries, the evening opens with a sequence of articles, letters, poems and songs from the period, backed by images which include paintings by female artists.

What did you do in the Great War, Mummy? reveals how women contributed to the war effort and also continued their campaign for political equality.

Among those who risked their lives for their country were the ‘canary girls’, whose skin turned yellow because of the dangerous chemicals they had to use making shells at the munitions works in Rotherwas, near Hereford.

The second half also explores women’s lives, but in a less risky environment.

The Reading Group, a one-act play by Fay Weldon - author of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil and many other famous novels - is a study of modern sexual politics that centres on an all-female reading group.

Directed by Mary Fielding, the double-bill is at Cradley CE Primary School from Thursday to Saturday, November 1 to 3, at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £8 for adults and £5 for children of 15 or under from The Butchery, Cradley, online from cradleyvillageplayers.com or on the door.