A MULTI award-winning amateur theatre group is set to host the premier of its latest musical.

Halstead’s Stane Street Players will soon be hosting its devised musical Conqueror.

The Stane Street Players are the local drama group for Halstead and Earls Colne.

The group started in 1975 when a group of friends in Marks Tey decided to put on a village pantomime.

It celebrated 40 years of non-professional drama in 2015 and has put on about 120 productions in the area.

Now, the Stane Street Players put on two or three shows every year including a pantomime, and typically perform at either Earls Colne Village Hall or the Empire Theatre in Halstead as well as occasional productions in other venues.

Set in the early 1800s, the newest production, Conqueror, tells the story of the eponymous Man of War ship, which took part in the Battle of Trafalgar and was the largest of 58 ships built in King’s Yard, Harwich.

Harwich in the early 1800s was the centre of shipbuilding for the Royal Navy.

Its highest achievement was the building of the Man of War, Conqueror, which fought with distinction at the historic battle in 1805.

The Stane Steet Players will be telling the story of the ship, its crew and the townspeople of Harwich in an amusing, big cast production laced with sea songs and shanties.

A spokesman said: “Batten down the hatches and join the Press Gang for a night of iconic sea shanties and folk songs in an immersive performance that’s laden with comedy, pathos and a smattering of local history.”

The first performances will take place at Earls Colne Village Hall at 7.30pm on Friday, October 6 and Saturday, October 7.

It will also be showing in Lamarsh on October 10.

Next, the company will set sail to the Harwich International Sea Shanty Festival, in which Conqueror will be performed at the Electric Palace theatre on Friday, October 13, once again at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available via the Stane Street Players, as well as the Harwich International Shanty Festival websites.