A PLAY interweaving a dream of playing baseball with a Northern upbringing hopes to score a home run in west Dorset.

Homeward Bound, written and performed by Ruth Mitchell, will be performed at the Lyric Theatre, Bridport, on Saturday July 9.

It is about stepping up to the plate, getting to first base and following your dreams.

Ruth's show interweaves the stories of her son’s dream to play major league baseball with her own Northern upbringing.

She was inspired to write Homeward Bound in a bid to understand more about her son’s passion for baseball, and in the process she uncovered the South West’s fascinating and longstanding connection with the game.

This includes the little known fact that Henry Chadwick, recognised in the American Baseball Hall of Fame as the Father of Baseball was actually born in Exeter in 1824.

Tug Wilson, the South West Baseball League’s commissioner, describes the show as 'gripping, funny and emotional'.

Alongside the game and its history, she also weaves in a parallel narrative about her life growing up in Bradford with both her mother and grandmother.

Ruth said: “I talk about my mother’s desire to act when her mother didn’t want her to, she never gave up and she began acting professionally in her 50s once her own mother had died, so as well as baseball it’s also about ambitions and dreams.”

For more than 25 years Ruth has been a leading actor in film, theatre and television and spent four years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, with a Best Actor nomination at the Manchester Evening News awards for her portrayal of Queen Margaret in Henry VI.

In addition to her work as a both a writer and performer, Ruth also teaches and lectures on writing and performance.

Ruth will run a Writing Workshop on the day of the performance from 10 am to 1 pm.

Tickets are available from Bridport Arts Centre and the show is being toured around the South West.