The diversity of productions taking place during the Spectrum festival at Coventry University will see original productions rubbing shoulders with some of the classics.

For the students in their final year of performing arts courses, the month-long festival (which runs from 9 May to 4 June) is a culmination of three years hard work for their degree.

Classic plays include: Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Midsummer Night's Dream, Pinter's The Birthday Party, Tennessee Williams' Glass Menagerie and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

However, the Spectrum festival also includes a number of original works, written and performed by the students; these range from dance pieces, poetry and plays to musical performances.

One of the original plays being staged in May is 'White Stock'. It tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham who uncovered a major social scandal where children in care were deported from the UK to Australia.

The Ellen Terry Building is the setting for most of the performances. The former Odeon cinema is the home of performing arts and was named in honour of Dame Ellen Terry, a Coventry-born stage actress whose career spanned an impressive seven decades.

The building, which was built in the Art Deco style, is the ideal venue for one of the productions 'Private Lives' by Noel Coward which is being staged by Deco Drama.

Robyn Blackmore, the final year student behind the production, said:

"This romantic comedy from the 1930's revives the spirit of the Ellen Terry Building with an art deco performance."

For details about all the productions taking place for the Spectrum festival visit the website at www.coventry.ac.uk/spectrum and request a full listings brochure.