The Medway Messenger has teamed up with Medway Little Theatre to raise money for our charity of the year, the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust.

For one night only, the amateur dramatics group in Rochester will donate all its ticket sales from the upcoming production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.

The show next Tuesday (October 1) will help raise money for the neonatal unit at Medway Maritime Hospital, which looks after hundreds of premature and sick babies each year.

The money raised will help pay for life-saving equipment, including ventilators, incubators and cot-side monitoring systems. The trust also provides travel expenses to help parents visit their babies on a daily basis.

Medway Messenger editor Bob Bounds said: “We are really pleased to be working with the Medway Little Theatre.

“It gives our readers the chance to enjoy a great evening of entertainment, starring some of the Towns’ most talented amateur actors, while supporting a very worthwhile course.”

Medway Little Theatre (MLT), tucked away in Rochester High Street opposite the railway station, is an intimate theatre with just 96 seats. A Street Car Named Desire will be the first play of MLT’s 56th season.

Described as one of America’s greatest plays, it offers an insight into the troubled world of Blanche DuBois (played by Katie Foster) who visits her pregnant sister Stella (Stephanie Anderson) in New Orleans, only to stir up endless trouble between Stella and husband Stanley (Aaron Carter).

But when Blanche meets Stanley’s good friend Mitch (Damian Veck), she has the opportunity to put her chequered past, which includes exile from Louisiana after seducing a 17-year-old boy while teaching English, thoroughly behind her.

The play was written by American playwright Tennessee Williams in 1947, earning him the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1948.

The play was adapted for Broadway and opened in December 1947, starring Marlon Brando.

The London production opened in 1949 with Bonar Colleano, Vivien Leigh, and Renee Asherson and was directed by Laurence Olivier.

The play starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are £10 for non-MLT members and £8 for members.

To buy tickets, contact Jenni Horn at the Medway Messenger on 01634 227828 or email jhorn@thekmgroup.co.uk