The Roses Youth Theatre kick off their 2020 this month with a production of the Friedrich Dürrenmatt tragicomedy ‘The Visit’.

The Youth Theatre, based at the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury, is split into four age groups – Beginners (School years 1-3), Juniors (4-6), Seniors (7-9) and Company (years 10+)

‘The Visit’ will be performed by the Company group and Nancy Robb, who runs the Youth Theatre, explains what the show is all about.

She said: “Claire Zachanassian, now a multimillion heiress and an older woman, returns to the impoverished town of her youth with a bargain.

“In exchange for returning the town to prosperity through her wealth, she wants the townspeople to kill the man who jilted her.”

Nancy, who has been in charge of the Roses Youth Theatre for three years, says the play has subjects relevant to modern audiences.

She continued: “I chose this play because even though it was written in the 1950s the themes of using money to corrupt, and the ideas of long standing grudges are things that people in 2020 can still relate to.”

The show will be at the Roses Theatre on Sunday 16th February, and rehearsals are well underway with the cast itching to get on stage.

Nancy added: “The Visit will be performed by The Roses Youth Theatre Company, the oldest group of the Youth Theatre. They’re aged 15 to 18 – a few of them have been in our Youth Theatre since they were five.

“Rehearsals have been going really well. I’ve been working in The Youth Theatre since 2017 and I’m blown away by the wealth of talent these young people have. As the performance date gets closer a nervous excitement has taken over all of us.”

Anyone interested in joining The Roses Youth Theatre can enquire by emailing ClaireCook@rosestheatre.org