THE late Barrie Jackson always said that every young person involved with the theatre should have an opportunity to appear in a production of Oliver and a production of Annie so it was probably fitting that the first Annie I reviewed saw Barrie in the role of Oliver Warbucks with fellow AAODS luminary Rita Rouse as Grace and the legendary Annie Walker as Miss Hannigan .

Over the years since I’ve seen countless productions, some good, some bad and some middling. Some have led to bouquets being delivered to my office…some have brought death threats, but they’ve all shared one thing in common - they haven’t really delivered any surprises.

Which is why the latest production by AAODS Juniors brought a cautiously raised eyebrow firstly, with its all junior casting. Where it’s more usual to see senior members of various societies drafted in to have a whale of time playing the ‘adult’ roles with youngsters cast largely as the orphans, the team behind AAODS’ Annie, which played at the Borough Theatre last week, took the decision to go for an all junior cast.

In a second brave choice the team also opted to follow the recent professional trend of casting a male Miss Hannigan, bringing yet another dimension into the mix.

Whatever the production choices may be, Annie rides and falls on its central character and in this role Molly Hall sang, danced and acted her way in the hearts of the audience, working well with Oliver Powell and Olivia O’Gorman as Warbucks and Grace.

In the adult roles both Oliver and Olivia showed huge confidence with Oliver taking centre stage for some of the show’s more emotional ballads with relative ease.

The chorus of orphans was a well schooled delight filling the auditorium with energy and enthusiasm with Charlotte Prosser as Molly making an early bid for stardom.

Robert Lewis was a suitably sleazy Rooster Hannigan with great support from Lilly Webb as his co-conspirator Lilly St Regis - their Easy Street trio was an undoubted highlight.

Confident performances also came from Harri Evans as Drake - and several other characters - and Roy Johns as Roosevelt both of whom made the most of every line

Taking on the comedic challenge of Miss Hannigan was Gwilym Rogers, who showed huge potential and will undoubtedly be a future star when he learns to harness his undoubted performance skills.

This was not a production without its problem areas. After an exuberant start from the orphans everyone else seemed desperate to hit the stage running which ironically meant for a performance which was at times all on one level. When you start at 100 per cent it’s difficult to find anywhere to go bring the light and shade which raises a performance and keeps the interest of the audience piqued.

Diction as always from chorus and principals was an issue as natural exuberance and excitement take over and words get lost in the mix.

That said, it was great to see young performers taking centre stage and to know that Abergavenny’s bank of talent is still fully stocked and gaining interest at the Borough Theatre.