A KNIGHT in shining armour has come to the rescue of an amateur dramatics group to make sure the show can go on.

The Border Players in Yarm made an appeal for anyone with a suit of armour to lend it to them for their forthcoming production, the farcical comedy Wild Goose Chase, by Derek Benfield.

Ian Schubert, from Redcar, got in touch and offered to lend them his specially made armour.

Mr Schubert is a member of the Rosa Mundi historical interpretation society and wears his tailor-made suits of armour during battle re-enactments and "living history" shows.

Fortunately, at 6ft 2ins tall, Jon Markl, the leading actor who needs to wear the armour, is the same height as Mr Schubert.

However, rugby-playing Mr Markl is a lot broader, so measures have had to be taken to ensure that he can fit into the suit.

Not only is he having to learn to perform in the heavy, hot and restricting costume, but he also has to be able to get in and out of it very quickly.

Sue Shields, the group's secretary, explained that it takes two people to dress Mr Markl, who plays Chester Dreadnaught in the comedy.

"We are using the armour without the internal parts of the arms, partly because they didn't fit properly, but also because we needed to save time.

"Normally it takes 40 minutes to get the suit on and off, but we have to get it on him in 15 minutes and take it off within 30 seconds during a scene. So we have had to attach some pieces of the suit to the jacket part before he puts it on, whereas normally each individual piece is laced on separately."

The show will be staged at Yarm Social Centre from Wednesday to Saturday, May 10, 7.30.

Tickets are available from the box office on 01642 890328, or directly from Sandra Rose florist's and David Rigg butcher's in the High Street.