They are taking their moment in the spotlight and looking at a subject which has never been more under scrutiny – celebrity.
Actors aged between 11 and 20 from all over Kirklees will be on stage in Huddersfield in a new Lawrence Batley Theatre Young People’s Production.
The show is Mark Ravenhill’s play Totally Over You. The dates are August 15 to 17 with evening performances at 7.30pm.
This main stage production brings together members of the LBT’s Youth Theatre and young people from some of the theatre’s community projects.
These are young performers from across the area and include newcomers as well as experienced actors working together on a professionally written and produced piece of theatre.
It builds on the success of previous Young People productions at the LBT including Noughts and Crosses (2011) and Face (2009).
And it is offering exciting opportunities for another generation of young actors.
Ciara Ward who is 15 and from Fixby, is playing the lead role of Kitty.
She said: “The idea of a group of people working towards a mutual goal is so inspiring.
“I can't wait to share our hard work with the public!’
Donovan Robinson, 15, from Dewsbury , had never been to the LBT before he auditioned to work on the show.
He heard about Totally Over You through the LBT’s Reaching Communities work in Dewsbury West.
He is taking the role of Dan and said: “I have taken part in school plays like Bugsy Malone at Westborough High School but this is the first time I’ve been involved in something at a professional theatre.
“I am really looking forward to it.”
Totally Over You started life a decade ago when Mark Ravenhill was asked to write a play for the National Theatre Connections Programme.
The project commissions writers to create pieces specifically for young people to perform.
Mark took his inspiration from Molière’s Les Précieuses Ridicules to create a comedic tale that centres on society’s obsession with the superficial world of celebrity.
More recently, his work has been seen on TV as he was one of the creators of the comedy, Vicious which starred Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi.
In Totally Over You, we meet Kitty and her friends who want to be celebrities and they know exactly how to get there.
Fame and fortune await. All they have to do is dump their zitty boyfriends and marry celebrities. Who says you have to be talented for everyone to know your name?
The heartbroken boys, not yet resigned to the scrapheap, are keen to show the girls the error of their ways by forming the next boyband sensation Awesome.
See what happens in what should be one of the summer’s most fun shows.
Huddersfield’s Amanda Huxtable directs and said: “It’s been a very exciting operation working with the production team with everyone putting in their very best.
“More than ever before we have a sense of how the media and cult of celebrity works, this work is part of that exploration with the opportunity to challenge the notion of short cuts vs hard graft.”
Tickets from the box office on 01484 430528