New theatre company for Worthing

Worthing has a new professional theatre company. Conn Artists Theatre Company has been formed by Mark Gordon and Ross Muir as a not-for-profit venture with plans to mount productions initially at the town's Connaught Theatre (hence the name) and then to tour them to similar regional venues.

The opening production, showcasing on 14 and 15 November, is Vintage Hitchcock. Three of his most famous works – The Lodger, The 39 Steps and Sabotage – will be presented as a live radio play by Joe Landry.

This means that the audience will be let into the secret world of sound effects and the creation of atmosphere while watching the actors read from their scripts as they would in a sound studio.

Among the company's other objectives are to create opportunities for local professional artists within a regional theatre context, to promote the development of an audience for such work and to provide work experience and mentoring for students and other young people with an interest in drama and the theatre.

Eventually Conn Artists hopes to become an associate company of the Connaught Theatre. Muir, who directs Vintage Hitchcock, has worked extensively with Rainbow Theatre Productions as well as in London. Gordon is a musician as well as an actor, having performed at the Brighton Festival.

The cast of Vintage Hitchcock includes Margo Henson, Laura Mason, Joshua Crisp, Jack Kristiansen, Nicholas Richards and Michael Wooldridge. It is designed by Laura Kimber.

In a week when it has become clear that London-based organisations and companies still swallow the majority of the country's theatre funding, Conn Artists hopes to redress a little part of the inbalance.