Her first taste of the limelight may have been as a Black Country carnival queen, but the creative talents of Kimberley Andrews are now taking centre stage in the world of drama.

The 24-year-old from Willenhall is showcasing her latest play, The Angel, at Birmingham Repertory Theatre next week as part of a young writers’ festival which celebrates a decade of new writing talent from across the region.

And Kimberley is delighted to be taking part, especially as it was the Rep which first encouraged her to carve out a stage career during a visit to her school almost 10 years ago.

“I’d always loved drama and the theatre,” said the former Pool Hayes School pupil, who was Willenhall Carnival Queen at the age of 17 in 2001.

“I was very much into acting in our school plays and had considered acting as a career, until we had a visit from staff at the Rep involved in the theatre’s Transmissions programme.”

The award-winning programme, which has developed and produced the work of hundreds of young writers since 1998, was just in its second year when it first caught the attention of Kimberley.

“I was really intrigued by the programme and decided to concentrate my efforts on writing,” said Kimberley and she promptly put pen to paper, producing several scripts for the theatre over the years.

Following her A-Levels, she went on to study a drama degree at Wolverhampton University and is currently in the final year of her Masters degree in text and performance studies at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada).

And throughout her studies she has continued to write drama, with the Black Country being the inspiration for her work.

She describes her plays as “comedy with a bit of real-life drama” and all are set in the Black Country.

“I’m inspired by everyday life in the Black Country,” she says.

“I produce my work based on observations of what’s going on around me and I feature the Black Country dialect and banter,” she says. “I think we’ve got a great sense of humour in the Black Country and I hope that comes through in my work.”

Kimberley will showcase her newly commissioned piece in four short episodes at the Rep.

Set in a Black Country pub, characters Sarah, Gemma, Claire and Louise are renowned for their drunken antics, but when they are given an insight into what the future holds, will the girls wish they had never looked?

“I’m not involved in the casting but I will be at the theatre for the rehearsals and therefore get an overview of the process.

“I’m very much looking forward to the event,” she says. Once she finishes Rada she hopes to take up writing full-time. “My dream is to write for TV,” she adds.

* Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s Transmissions Young Writers’ Festival 2008 runs from June 25 to July 5.

Kimberley’s play will run on June 25 and 28 and July 2 and 5.

Tickets are available from the box office on 0121 236 4455 or on-line by logging on to www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

By Maria Cusine.