Highland Youth Theatre to perform Oliver! at Forres Town Hall on Friday August 4 and Saturday August 5

A LOCAL youth dramatics group that recently raised the roof at Forres Town Hall is set to do it all over again.

Fresh from staging the musical ‘Grease’ to sell-out audiences over three nights in June, The Highland Youth Theatre - based in Forres, Elgin and Inverness - is rehearsing ‘Oliver! JR’, adapted from the full-length musical by Lionel Bart.

Based on the novel ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens, the play will bring together a cast of 41 children and young people from around Moray to stage their second show in six weeks.

HYT director Gillian Murdoch explained: “Every year, we run a summer school over five days, starting from scratch on the Monday and putting on the show at the end of the week, usually just on the Friday night.

“This year, we’ve stepped it up!

“’We had such amazing feedback from Grease that we’ve booked Forres Town Hall for two nights - Friday August 4 and Saturday August 5.

“The hall will again be transformed with the help of Brodie Murray and the team at Standing Ovation, who did such an amazing job with the technical elements for Grease.”

She added: “With a small but mighty production team and over 40 wonderfully talented young people, we’re hoping that the community will turn out again to clap, cheer and stamp their feet!

“That amazing support made all the difference to Grease.”

Casting for Oliver! JR took place in mid-July, and the young people are expected to learn their lines and songs before using five rehearsal days to take the script from page to stage, learning the choreography, sculpting out the story, perfecting vocals and the overall production.

“It’s such a massive challenge,” said Gillian, “but we’ve shown time and time again that with a little guidance, lots of love and plenty of support, young people can achieve just about anything!

“Summer school is a wonderful adventure - intense, hard work and full of fun - but the bonds and team spirit built over those few days are what makes these productions so special! We can’t wait to feel that buzz in the Town Hall again.’

So if you - like Oliver - are wanting more, tickets for £5 are available via https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/highland-youth-theatre

Oliver! JR is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International.

Highland Youth Theatre (HYT) usually runs on Mondays at Forres House Community Centre for four age groups: 3-5-year-olds from 3.30-4pm; P1-P3s from 4-4.45pm; P4-P7s from 4.45-5.45pm; and S1-S5s from 7-8pm.

Visit www.highlandyouththeatre.co.uk for more information.