A NEW all female theatre company set up to address the gender inequality gap in theatre has been awarded almost £30k to kickstart its activities.

Juno Theatre in Salisbury will use the funds from the Arts Council to develop the skills and confidence of women writers and theatre practitioners within a 40-mile radius of the city.

Set up a year ago, the group emerged from the She Writes women's playwriting group at Salisbury Playhouse.

Juno chairman Sue Ashby said: "It's an exciting opportunity because women are under-represented across the board in theatre.

"Our focus will be to write great parts for women and develop women writers at all levels of ability.

"We want to add to the rich arts mix that exists in Salisbury, and to grass roots theatre in particular."

The group aims to encourage more women writers and to generate work for female theatre practitioners.

It staged a pilot event at last year's Salisbury Fringe when five short plays by local women writers featuring all female casts were performed.

As well as showcasing four more short plays on the theme of Body Talk at this year's Salisbury Fringe on October 4 at Castle Street Social Club in Scots Lane, future plans include organising a series of creative days in Salisbury on different aspects of theatre practice in November and staging six new plays by women writers in the Wiltshire, Dorset and Hampshire area at Salisbury Arts Centre in February.

A £750 grant from the Wiltshire Community Foundation will go towards running workshops for young women aged between 13-19 in Mere in October.