A FORMER pupil of Chipping Campden School will be bringing her one woman show, Cabernet, to The Fleece in Bretforton, before she takes it to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Jessica Friend will be playing Louise Darling, who “through wine, laughter and tears explores the pressures of life and love”.

A spokesman said: “Louise Darling, a charismatic bar singer, and she is accompanied by Daniel O’Brien on piano as Francis, a timid pianist. Louise, a musical theatre graduate from Britalia Fonti, has been performing in bars and clubs ever since, making small and brief appearances on the West End and the like, not to mention the many waitressing jobs she has endured. “She feels pressure from her family and her other half Andy to ‘settle down’ and ‘get a proper job’. Will she carry on singing after tonight?”

Local girl Jessica Friend will be trying out Cabernet at The Fleece before it showcases at the Edinburgh Fringe, in August.

Jessica will be donating a percentage of the ticket sales to help support the Bretforton Silver Band, a band she is looking forward to singing with again at the Bretforton Proms.

The Bretforton Proms are on July 21, the night after the Cabernet Preview at the Fleece, on Friday July 20.

Jessica Friend studied as a first study singer at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating in 2015.

Jessica has also trained on the National Youth Theatre Epic Stages course with director Ned Bennett.

Before then, at the Chipping Campden School, she sang and toured with the school’s Swing Band. Jessica now lives in Stratford upon Avon where she is musical director for the Stratford Musical Theatre Company Choir and sings in vocal duo, The Mezzos.

Pianist Daniel O’Brien has studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he met Jessica.

The two have performed together ever since.

Further details for Caberbet: https://thefleeceinn.co.uk/events/cabernet-edinburgh-fringe-preview/