AN actor writer says the journey of taking his play from a pub theatre to New York has been “immense”.

Dad-of-two Kieran Knowles, from Boothstown, was one of four out of work actors who met up in a pub in 2012 to discuss Operation Crucible.

Based on real events, the play is about four men who have been trapped in an Engliah hotel cellar after a German bomb attack in the 1940s.

After it received raved reviews in pub theatres, it was commissioned to be shown in New York where it is has been on stage from November 7 and runs until December 22.

The play, which is directed by Bryony Shanahan and has been adapted to radio, has also been reviewed by acclaimed The New York Times critic Ben Brantley.

Former St Mary’s Catholic High School pupil Kieran, 33, said: “The play is going really well in New York.

“The journey we have gone on to get to this point is immense.

“It’s been a passion project for everyone involved from the start and has really shaped the way we work and how we want to work going forward.”

Kieran has also performed in New York in a play called Toast opposite Matthew Kelly.

As well as appearing in venues across the UK, he has starred in the Brits Off Broadway Festival two out of the last three years.