The young cast of West Side Story were happy to pose together for photographer Simon Vail after the turmoil on stage had ended.
Dancers, actors and musicians from the DIY Theatre Company and three of Oxford’s twin cities joined forces for three performances of the popular musical at the Amey Theatre in Abingdon.
The DIY group was formed in 2009 when music teacher Mel Houldershaw found old theatre lights and curtains in the village hall at Sunningwell, near Abingdon.
She spoke to her 15-year-old daughter, Rhianna, who was inspired to write a script based on the story of Snow White.
Rhianna recalls: “We had a series of rehearsals in which we did nothing. We played hide and seek, hit each other with towels and messed around.
“As production week loomed, we ended up having to ask my mum to help as we had nothing we could have shown on stage.
“As always, she worked her magic and helped us produce a show, even if the prince was played by a girl, the dwarfs ranged massively in size and our spectacular avalanche that killed the witch, also played by the prince, was a space hopper.”
Snow White may not have been DIY’s best show, but it set the scene for the company’s successful future.
Since then, it has staged at least two productions a year, mainly musicals, giving youngsters their first experience of performing before audiences.
West Side Story was conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, it is set in the mid-1950s in New York and explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs from different ethnic backgrounds.
There was doubt at first that a story about racial conflict and gang violence would attract audiences, but West Side Story has proved to be one of the most popular musicals.
More of Simon Vail’s pictures and a review on Page 21.