Starry-eyed audiences can explore the cosmos in a new play by up-and-coming theatre company Take the Space.

Siobhan Nicholas’ Stella, which has been shortlisted for the Brighton Fringe Best New Play award, will be coming to the Rose after its debut.

The play was inspired by an article Ms Nicholas read about Jocelyn Burnell, an astrophysicist who missed out on receiving the Nobel Prize.

Ms Nicholas said: “There was a quote in the article that said ‘we are all made of star stuff’ and that encapsulated everything for me.”

“I could not really write about a living person, that absolutely limits the story. There was a story taking shape.

"I wanted to write about women in plural. And I wanted to write about Caroline Hershell."

The play follows the lives of two women, the 17th century Hershell, and a more contemporary character, who are trying to pinpoint their own roles in an ever male-dominated world.

Ms Nicholas said: “I hope I have written a play about women.

"It seems to me that there is something in the ether at the moment, and I have written about the challenge we still have as women.

"It is not feminist. We are not bashing men. We are saying if you do not have a loved one in your life what is it all for really?

"They are looking for a cosmic balance. Will we ever get there?"

She received help from the Royal Astronomical Society when writing the play, and said she was now an astronomy enthusiast.

She said: "I was completely ignorant about astronomy when I began the play, which I think is a good place to begin because if I come to understand stuff, then the audience will."

She added: “I just love the idea that there are women able to absolutely map their place in the universe, and yet we are still struggling to find our position on Earth, and trying to find our balance.

"That is what it is all about."

Stella; the Rose Theatre, High Street, Kingston; June 4, 7.30pm; £8-12; For more details call: 08444 821 556 or visit rosetheatrekingston.org.