Hepburn's life portrayed at Bacon Theatre (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Hepburn's life portrayed at Bacon Theatre

IN AUDREY Hepburn's Arms, which is presented by Persian trapeze artists Bandbazi at the Bacon Theatre on Friday, February 18, the audience will be treated to an extraordinary evening of aerial drama which gets under the skin of the legendary screen icon at the height of her Hollywood thinness, as seen through the eyes of a grieving mother whose daughter has died of anorexia.

Audrey Hepburn crammed so much into her life - Oscar winning actress, fashion muse and campaigner for children's rights - that it is almost impossible to represent her on stage.

Bandbazi place her in a trapeze, high above the world where she can be both fragile and strong as Hepburn was in life.

A circular trapeze is used to explore the connections between female beauty and thinness.

For Hepburn beauty had its costs. Starved as a child in war-torn Holland, she battled with eating disorders all through her life. Aged 38, she gave up the image-obsessed Hollywood to concentrate on being a mother.

Finally, as an old, ill woman, she felt compelled to re-enter the media glare in her relentless campaign to bring an end to starvation in Africa.

In Audrey Hepburn's Arms explores the star at two crucial periods - crooning Moon River in the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961, and as an old woman in Africa, cradling a dying child in her arms.

Theatrical, provocative and heartfelt, and using recordings of Hepburn's own voice, this aerial drama promises to be a unique theatrical experience.

The show begins at 8pm. Tickets from the box office on 01242 258002 or www.bacontheatre.co.uk