VETERAN actress Stephanie Cole is appearing at a North-East theatre in the stage version of best-seller The Shell Seekers.

The star of Tenko and Waiting for God is performing in the Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham adaptation of the story at Darlington Civic Theatre until Saturday.

Set in London and Cornwall between the Second World War and the present day, the play tells the tale of Penelope Keeling and how she held her family together for three generations.

It is also the story of the Shell Seekers painting, an ancestral legacy which threatens to tear the family apart. Tickets cost from £10.50 to £17 and can be booked on (01325) 486555.