Teenager Fergus Drysdale will take to the stage at Bristol Hippodrome next week.

The 13-year-old from Chippenham is part of the cast of Oliver! the musical and will be appearing alongside Neil Morrissey of Men Behaving Badly fame.

Fergus is one of just 24 children to be picked for the show out of hundreds of hopeful applicants.

He has overcome foot surgery to take part in in gruelling rehearsals involving singing and dancing for six hours a day.

Fergus, who goes to Sheldon School in Chippenham, will appear on stage several times as one of the street boys. He is looking forward to the opening night on Tuesday, when he will meet Neil Morrissey for the first time.

“It’ll be great to meet him, he’s a good actor,” said Fergus, who will perform every other day for five weeks. “We rehearsed all through the Christmas holidays, it was tiring but fun.”

His school tutor Bridget Collins, who used to teach him drama, said: “He’s such a humble, modest young lad.

“Despite having had a lot of corrective operations on his foot over the years, he always manages to remain extremely positive and has always kept on auditioning.”

Fergus has attended Sonnets Theatre Arts School in Chippenham since last September. but had been with Curtain Up in Melksham from the age of five.

He has also achieved a silver medal for acting from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda).

Fergus’ first taste of fame was the age of eight when he appeared in the BBC dramatisation of Lark Rise to Candleford.