ARTS Alive presents the hilarious Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain at Cawley Hall, Eye, at 6.30pm on Sunday, November 27.

The show from the talented Fol Espoir has audiences helpless with laughter and is based on a real handbook published in 1942.

The performance at Eye has a very special local resonance, because American troops were billeted at nearby Berrington during the Second World War.

And Martin and Fran Collins, the authors of The Friendly Invasion of Leominster - an account of the US military units billeted around Leominster, 1943-1945 will be available before the performance to sign copies of the book, and ocal photo archivist, Pam Edwards, is also organising a display of photos in the hall.

Doors will be open from about 5.30pm, providing older local residents with a chance to reminisce, and everyone with the opportunity to talk to the authors and perhaps spot familiar faces or places in the photographs.

Issued in 1942 by the American War Office, the pamphlet 'Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain' aimed to prepare GIs for their new home and defuse Nazi propaganda attempts to split the allies asunder. A crash course on the quirks and customs of British life, it featured everything from cricket, the King and indoor amusements to Sunday afternoons in the country. It’s been described as an 'Ordnance survey map' of Britain’s wartime psyche, and was re-published in 2005.

Theatre company Fol Espoir joins forces with comedy trio The Real MacGuffins to create a rumbustious show inspired by the pamphlet. Structured around a training session for newly arrived GIs – aka the audience - the show gently pokes fun at British eccentricities and the American troops who tried to understand them.

For tickets, call 01568 615836 or book online at artsalive.co.uk