A NEW youth play about being young, old and everything in between premieres at The Arc in Trowbridge next month.

Now the cast of youngsters have started raising funds to make it an even bigger and better production.

Bradford on Avon based children’s dramatic arts company Character Stage Company, which this year comprises a cast of 21 young people aged 10-20, have been working over the last few months with professional director and writer Tom Wainwright from Bristol Old Vic, to devise an original play for performance.

They are now looking to raise some extra funds to provide costume and set from a professional designer. Following their Talent Show Fundraiser on Monday at The Arc on Saturday the Character’s cast will be bag-packing at Asda, Trowbridge from 2pm-6pm to raise more funds for the performance. In addition, they would also welcome sponsorship from local businesses or via their IndieGoGo Crowd-funder campaign.

The producer of the show is Bradford on Avon-based Moira Townsend Williams, a former West End casting director, actors’ agent and copywriter for Saatchi and Saatchi. Mind The Gap will be the third production of the Characters Stage Company, which is made up of auditioned children from the Characters Stage School, founded in 2011.

The action takes place in a care home, where a small group of teenagers on the run from the police seek refuge. Unwittingly stuck together for a couple of hours, the elderly residents and the teenagers are forced to get to know each other. The characters relate stories from their past, or about their own lives and gradually come to realise that the generation ‘gap’ is not the gulf they originally thought. The play starts off with heightened comedy, but this is stripped away to reveal the real issues and dilemmas that each of them face, or have faced in their lives. Finally, a surprising truth is revealed in the plays' dramatic and poignant conclusion. This play will appeal to everyone aged from from 10 to 100.

Mind The Gap is being performed at The Arc Theatre on Saturday, July 4 (7pm performance) and Sunday, July 5 (3.30pm matinee and 7pm performance). Tickets £8-10 from 01225 756376 and www.arctheatre.org.uk

For information about joining the school visit www.charactersstageschool.com