A?WEST?Devon theatre group is celebrating 18 years of its summer school, which has seen young people take to the stage and put on original pieces of musical theatre.

This year, the All Out Performing Arts summer school is taking place at the Coronation Hall in Mary Tavy.

Julian Barnicoat, one of the All Out directors, said: 'When we first thought about a summer event all those years ago it was intended to be a series of workshops for young people.

'But the first time it ran, we decided to use our combined skills to build a full-scale theatrical production in just one week and that was it — summer school was born.'

He and Suzanne Sanders are the co-founders of the company and they well remember the summer school's more humble beginnings.

Julian added:?'The night before we opened in 1994, we just sat there looking at the small number of applicants and arguing whether we could justify going ahead. Fortunately, we did and summer school has grown over the years.'

But Suzanne insists the summer school is not the be all and end all: 'We hope people remember that no matter how good summer school is, All Out is about a lot more.

'We are very busy right through the year teaching the performing arts and our courses for young people in Tavistock and Callington are a very important feature. These are for anyone between 6 – 18 years of age. They can come and work with us right through the year, learn about the performing arts, create shows and take LAMDA exams. It's great fun and really worthwhile'.

This Christmas the Tavistock groups will stage a new version of, 'The Nutcracker ' in Tavistock Town Hall.

Anyone wishing to find out more about All Out can visit their website at http://www.alloutarts.co.uk">www.alloutarts.co.uk or ring them on 01822 615970.