SUE Lister will direct Real People Theatre’s 15th consecutive production for York International Women’s Week in March.

Auditions for Anne Lister’s Ladies will be held on Saturday, January 11 from 11am at Brigantes on Micklegate, York.

“Anne is no relation, as far as I know,” says Sue, the York women’s theatre company’s artistic director.

“The final production will not only include scenes from Emma Donoghue’s play I Know My Own Heart, presented as a staged reading, but also speakers who have become fascinated by the life and times of Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, near Halifax, and studied her diaries de-coded and edited by Helena Whitbread.”

The performances will be followed by audience discussions “as we reflect on how social attitudes to women who love women have changed since the early 1800s”, says Sue.

She is seeking actresses for four roles, led by Anne Lister, the “gentlemanly” heiress-in-waiting to Shibden Hall, who is well aware of her standing in the community and is a romantic at heart.

Tib, more formally known as Isabella Norcliffe, moves in the same social circles as Anne and is a well travelled woman of independent means; Marianne Brown, a pretty farmer’s daughter, is in awe of the attention she has attracted; Nancy Brown, Marianne’s younger sister, is unwilling to be left out.

“Anne and Tib are in their 30s and the two sisters are in their 20s. A lively set of relationships develops as the play charts Anne’s lesbian liaisons in the early 1800s with these three women,” says Sue.

“This production is a chance for Yorkshire lesbians to recreate the social mores of the 19th century and for audiences to discuss how times have changed. It’s a staged reading so I’m not looking for experienced actors, though that would be a bonus. I look forward to seeing all those interested at next weekend’s auditions.”

Anne Lister’s Ladies will run during York International Women’s Week, hosted by York St John University from March 8 to 15 and co-ordinated as ever by Sue.

• Those wanting to take part in her auditions should ring the director on 01904 488870