AN ALL-star cast has been announced for the very first performance at a new Southampton theatre.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres City (NST City) venue will open to the public with its inaugural play and world premiere of The Shadow Factory next month.

The full cast for the performance has been announced, and includes former Eastenders star Anita Dobson, famous for her role as Angie Watts.

The actress joins fellow BBC soap star Lorna Fitzgerald, who has been cast in her first role since her death on the TV show at Christmas as Abi Branning.

The play itself, by Howard Brenton, tells the story of Southampton’s courage in 1940 during The Battle of Britain and the role that Woolston’s Spitfire planes had against the German Luftwaffe.

Despite more than 2,000 bombs being dropped and the Woolston Supermarine Spitfire factory being destroyed, the play conveys the story of chaos and community spirit in the aftermath.

NST City is part of Studio 144, Southampton’s new £30 million arts venue. The facility includes a 450-seat main house, a 133-seat studio and screening and rehearsal facilities.

The theatre also houses a bar and restaurant run by Mettricks.

Other stars set to take to the stage include

Director of Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Samuel Hodges, said: “I’m delighted that the cast for our opening production at NST City combines such a welalth of talent; from stage debuts to household names.

“This, alongside a terrific company of 25 Southampton residents, that our new head of casting, Anneilie Powell and I, worked together to cast.”

Other names to be taking part in the play include David Birrell, from the UK tour of The Wind in the Willows and Shala Nyx, who plays Polly.