THE new year at Ilkley Playhouse was off to a flying start with a sell-out run of the fringe performance of Circle Mirror Transformation.

It appears audiences have an appetite for good theatre as tickets are selling well for the next Wharfeside production — J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways, which runs from January 26 to February 7.

With the cast hard at work for some weeks now director Jacquie Howard said: “It feels as though the rehearsals have been going on for a long time. They started in early December to allow for the Christmas and New Year breaks but the cast and back stage crew are such fun and so rewarding to work with that time has flown by.

“J.B. Priestley takes us on a 20-year-journey which explores the lives of a family who are full of aspirations and promise only to be frustrated by their mistakes and the interference of others. Can we change the course of our lives? If we had a glimpse into our future would we act differently?

“This is a challenging play for the actors and crew, who have a complete set to change — twice, but a pleasure for audiences, who will enjoy one of Priestley’s most finely crafted works.”

There will be a matinee on Saturday, January 31, at 2.30pm.

On Sunday, February 1, there is the return of the Fleapit Cinema for 2015. This time it’s a double bill, featuring the classic, Brief Encounter, and The Red Balloon.

Following the successful play run at the Playhouse in November this is a chance to see the original David Lean 1945 film version of Brief Encounter. Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard star as Laura and Alec who meet by chance at a railway station.

Their ensuing affair leaves Laura guilt-ridden as she struggles to deal with the consequences.

The Red Balloon is a 34-minute fantasy directed by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse. It follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a stray balloon on the streets of Paris, which seems to have a mind of its own. It won numerous awards, including an Oscar for Lamorisse for writing the best original screenplay in 1956 and the Palme d’Or for short films at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

Doors open at 1.30pm, film starts at 2pm. Tickets £5.

Other dates for your diary for the next few months are February 24 to 28, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? directed by Jennie Aron in the Wildman Studio.

Edward Albee’s play portrays the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, mediocre academic George and his strong-willed wife Martha. After a late night party, they are joined by young couple Nick and Honey for drinks in their home.

The evening quickly degenerates into an uncomfortable ordeal as George and Martha draw Nick and Honey into their bitter, complex and combative relationship.

The 1966 film famously starred real-life warring couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as George and Martha and George Segal and Sandy Dennis as Nick and Honey.

On March 6 and 7, Yvette Huddleston directs Nicholas Wright’s hugely engaging drama Mrs Klein which centres on the real-life figure of Melanie Klein, one of the pioneers of child psychology in this country.

Born in Vienna in 1882, Klein began psychoanalysing children in Budapest during the First World War under the guidance of Hungarian analyst Sandor Ferenczi, a close associate of Sigmund Freud, before relocating to Berlin in 1921 and then London in 1926 where she lived until her death in 1960.

Phone 01943 609539 for tickets or see ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk for more.