East Surrey musical theatre group Utopians Unlimited return to the stage this weekend with a production from the pens of Gilbert and Sullivan.

For the group, founded in 1980 and which stages two Gilbert and Sullivan shows each year in churches in the Reigate, Redhill and Croydon areas to help raise church funds, will be presenting the master theatre duo's sixth collaboration, Patience.

The show will be going on in Reigate Methodist Church, High Street, Reigate, this Saturday (June 16) at 7.30pm.

Directed by Lynda Barrett-Mercer and produced by Jon Fox, with musical direction by Matthew Stainer, the production is being given a twist by the company.

Originally set in the 1870s to 1880s, Utopians Unlimited have set the operatic satire in 1928, on the cusp of the demise of black and white silent films in favour of the colour `talkies.'

Instead of the central characters being two love-lorn poets and a simple village milkmaid of the 1880s, they have become an English silent film actor and a visiting American talkie actor.

They both fall in love with the tea girl on the film set, who also happens to be a suffragette, while the rapturous maidens of the 1880s become film star groupies of the 1920s.

Local residents form much of the cast, including ten-year-old George Barnsley of Reigate.

Tickets, priced £10, including light refreshments, and £5 for under 16s, are available from Reigate Community Centre, behind Reigate Methodist Church.

There will also be a raffle on the night with all profits going to Reigate Community Centre.

For more details visit the centre's website at: www.reigatecommunitycentre.org.uk There will be two further performances of Patience at Christ Church Methodist Church, Addiscombe, on Saturday, June 23, and at All Saints Church, Kenley, on Saturday, June 30.

Utopians Unlimited have named Ruddigore, or The Witch’s Curse, as their next production, to be staged on the last three Saturdays of February 2013.

For more details, or to take part in one of their shows either on or off-stage, contact Jon Fox on 0208 668 6768, or email him at: jon_utopia@hotmail.com