VETERAN actress Norrie Woodhall will be back on stage at the age of 102 for a live performance that will be seen and heard worldwide.

She will be reciting one of Thomas Hardy's best-known poems, The Ruined Maid, at a fundraising event in Dorchester on Sunday.

Mrs Woodhall is among the company of New Hardy Players who are appearing at Dorchester Arts Centre for an evening of poetry, prose and music in aid of Amnesty International.

The performance is being captured live on the internet on Sunday so that people all over the world can enjoy the show.

The Dorset Voices programme of words and music from Dorset past and present starts at 7.30pm on Sunday. But anyone can watch and listen to it by logging on to www.hardyonline.org and following the screen instructions.

New Hardy Player Devina Symes said: "When Thomas Hardy wrote his poem Domicilium in his picturesque cottage at Higher Bockhampton he could never have imagined that years later, as a performance of his work was being read, it was also being seen and heard live throughout the world."

The evening comes amid a fresh surge of interest in Hardy's work following the broadcasting of the BBC television adaptation of his Tess of the D'Urbervilles, currently showing on Sunday evenings.

Fascination with Tess led to an appearance of Norrie Woodhall on BBC's The One Show last week. Her elder sister, Gertude Bugler, took the title role in a stage adaptation presented by Hardy in Dorchester. The production later transferred to London though Gertrude declined to perform in the capital.

Mrs Woodhall was a member of Thomas Hardy's own drama company in Dorchester, the Hardy Players, and acted alongside Gertrude in Tess of the D'Urbervilles in the 1920s.

She knew the author in his old age and remembers him well. She helped found a revival of the am-dram group as the New Hardy Players in the run-up to her 100th birthday. The performance at the arts centre is to support Matthew Worth from Dorchester who will be trekking in Peru with Team Amnesty to raise money for Amnesty International.

Tickets for anybody who wants to be at the global performance are £8 each. The price includes refreshments. Call 01929 400701 or 01305 267419 to book.