A NEW play from the mind of an award-winning Bury writer is coming to the Manchester Fringe Redux 2020.

'Fruit Salad', written by Selina Helliwell, focuses on the lives of two women called Cherry and Peaches who became friends because of their unusual, fruity names and follows them as they form a close bond over the years.

According to Selina, "Fruit Salad blends heartbreaking moments with humour to create a love story of sorts about an unlikely but beautiful friendship."

Selina plays Cherry, while Peaches is played by Mary Taylor, with the pair both starring in award winning play 'Burnout' - penned by Selina.

The pair also attended The Elton High School and Holy Cross Sixth Form together.

Selina and Mary often performed together throughout their education. But after playing alongside each other in The Crucible in GCSE Drama they didn’t share a stage for ten years.

Burnout "recaptured the magic" they felt when acting together and now they "don’t ever want to stop."

Selina said: "The fringe usually takes place in July every year but it was cancelled due to covid so they have done a Redux version of it.

"The audience is socially distanced and has lots of measures in place and it is a good way of getting the art out there."

Selina said that her new play explored the complex nature of friendship, while still retaining light-hearted comedy moments.

She said: "There is a lot of comedy in it and it has got its lighter moments. I always had it in my mind that it was something that me and Mary could do.

"I have seen so many stories exploring the idea of romance through the years but friendship is just as prevalent and I wanted to show that."

The play is on 13 and 14 November at 7pm at The King's Arms in Salford.

Tickets can be purchased at manchesterfringe.eventotron.com.