The Rose Theatre will see some northern charm hit the stage in the new year.

A touring production of Tim Firth’s Sign of the Times is coming to Kingston for one week in February.

Firth has an impressive predigree. He wrote the screenplay for Calendar Girls that was one of the surprising film hits of recent times grossing almost 10 times its $10,000,000 budget worldwide.

Directed by Karen Simpson the show is one of his lesser known plays but, like so much of his work, it is set in Yorkshire and based around the seemingly average lives of northern people.

Simpson has been in the business for 25 years and as director of the Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal, one of the only surviving regency theatres in the country, she feels she knows what will work on stage and what the public will enjoy.

Like Firth, Simpson is also a native north westerner and admits that was part of her attraction to the play.

“I love Tim’s writing and I was looking for a contemporary play that said something about modern society.

I wanted something that had a really broad appeal and that everyone could relate to.”

The first half tells the story of Frank, an aging sign writer and wannabe writer, and Alan the young man on work experience with him. In the second half the roles became somewhat reversed.

Simpson said: “This just seemed perfect because the story is so relevant to today. On the one hand you have a man who is all about details and doing things the right way. Frank is old fashioned about his work and he just can’t understand his young apprentice.”

Rehearsals for the play with the lead actors Thomas Pickles, who is playing Alan, and Robert Gill as Frank start this week.

Simpson said: “I have never seen the play on stage, but when I was reading it I just thought it was the most engaging piece.

It’s exciting to get started and I really think this is something everyone will enjoy.”

Sign of the Times; Rose Theatre, High Street, Kingston; February 3 to 7; more details at rosetheatrekingston.org