Keasley Amateur Operatic Society cast in the exotic operetta The Desert Song

Far from the Asian deserts, a parish hall in Farnworth played host to a strange bunch who look as if they escaped from the tales of Lawrence of Arabia.

In fact the story they were telling was inspired by the stories of the famed general.

Members of Keasley Amateur Operatic Society were all dressed up for The Desert Song.

The operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Hammerstein, Harbach and Mandel

follows the plot devices of the like of the The Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro, where a hero adopts a mild-mannered disguise to keep his true identity a secret.

In this case it is the The Red Shadow, played by David Reeves, who loves beautiful and spirited French girl Margot, played by Irene Holmes, but is forced to keep his true identity hidden from her.

Also pictured alongside the huge Kearsley cast are Adrian Hunter and Philip Kenyon as the Legionnaires.

The show hit the stage at St Gregory's Parish Hall in Church Street back in September 1984.