Take 70 teenagers, most of whom have ambitions to be stars, set them to learning, creating and performing a complex play in a hothouse atmosphere and what do you get? A fantastic show.

If there were tears and tantrums along the way they were not in evidence as Storm on the Lawn, the Theatre Royal Bath’s annual youth production, opened on Wednesday night.

Storm is unique in more ways than one: its open-air setting is its own challenges, and the cast are not auditioned, so their theatre experience can be almost none.

It is a huge tribute to this group that in just three weeks they have melded into a company, supporting each other on stage and off and giving performances many professionals would be proud to have in their repertoire.

The leads were excellent: Zach Hawkins, 14, made his Peter Pan into a patrician, lip-curling, charming but sometimes irritating character; Flossie Ure, 13, had Wendy wide-eyed with wonder without being sarcastic – quite a challenge for a modern teenager, faced with Barrie’s innocent dialogue; Amelia Melvin, 12, was marvellous as Michael, especially in the flight scenes; Oliver Taylor, 15, had the right note of elder sibling condescension as John, while Millie Bolt and Emily Clarke, both 14, were eerily simultaneous and magical as Tinkerbell.

Other cast members also caught the eye - and ear: Finn Lacey’s ethereal singing voice, Laura Simons’ self possession on stage, Frazer Collins making full use of his cheeky grin as Smee and MaryBowen’s self-effacing Nana, to pick out just a few.

The set and setting are superb, making full use of light and sound. The mermaid’s lagoon scene at the end of Act 1, with fairy bubbles rising into a sky just on the edge of turning from dusk to dark, is really magical, and the sound effects are super.

Small boys everywhere will go home to try and recreate the crocodile’s last laugh and surely the trees which surround Prior Park’s Ball Court do not have such obligingly susurrating leaves?

Production designer Anna Michaels’ reaction to that fantastic Olympic Opening ceremony might have been different to most of us - you can imagine her glaring at her TV muttering ‘How dare they pinch my idea’ as those NHS beds with bouncing pyjama-clad children where wheeled on - but the fact that she and Danny Boyle shared the same vision is surely no criticism but rather a tribute to author Barrie’s power to evoke in everyone a universal view of childhood.

There are still tickets available: wrap up warm and go if you can.