AN award-winning festival of theatre will deliver a range of entertainment when it returns to a North-East town next month.

Darlington’s Jabberwocky Market will return for its 11th season on Wednesday, October 3 and will run until Sunday, October 7.

Among the shows appearing in this season’s pop up festival is Rendezvous In Bratislava, a show created by Miriam Sherwood about her granddad’s love of cabaret during the communism era in Czechoslovakia.

The show will be making its UK premier and will feature original music, and a live band of Slovaks.

Miriam’s grandad was a collector of jokes and writer of cabarets. A Slovak Jew who was born in 1913, he survived the fascist only to be imprisoned by the Communists, who believed him to be a threat to the regime.

Digging through objects and stories from his remarkable life, Miriam searches for her granddad’s voice, conjuring up an archival cabaret that reverberates with laughter from a very different place and time.

Ms Sherwood said: “I am really excited, it is a show about my granddad who of course I have never met and it is really relaxed and really person to me.”

Another highlight is Black, a show organisers are describing as provocative and engaging, and will go dig right to the heart of racial tensions in the UK today.

Other events include Ground Control for youngsters, Big Little Gigs, which features a vintage swing band and Facebook Saved Our Baby, the true story of the life-changing impact of their daughter’s chronic eczema and the hope they found in the most unexpected of places.

A key feature of the event this year will be its bid to be more accessible to those with disabilities.

Kerami Roberts, who has helped to find accessible venues, said: “Darlington is a brilliant town but it can be hard to access some venues.

“The most important thing is information, we won’t be saying this event is suitable or isn’t suitable, because everyone is different, it is all about giving them the choice.

“That includes whether this a lift, suitable flooring, access to disabled toilets ¬- we want to have a really good accessibility guide so people can make decisions, and for that, information is key.”

Caroline Pearce, Jabberwocky Market director, said: “The event has really changed over the years in so many ways and I have changed to go with it. We are constantly being reborn.

“Battersea Arts Centre is about trying something new and seeing if it works, so we are constantly evolving.

“We’ve got a show in Shildon and we are hoping to have events across the Tees Valley, so we are spreading across more of the region.

For more information and to see a full list of events, ticket prices and timings, visit www.jabberwockymarket.org.uk