IT is a truth universally acknowledged that any show with a cast of exuberant and talented young performers is certain to be a hit.

Add into this mix a shiny faced orphan who spends his time either singing longingly about his dead mother or being hotly pursued by the most dastardly bunch of villains ever to grace Victorian London, and the ovations are all but guaranteed.

Such is the case with ALOC's production of Oliver, which, if the word on the street is to be believed, has been delighting audiences at Abergavenny's Borough Theatre this week.

To paraphrase the words of Rossini, this is a show which had its good moments...

Predictably it was the lively contribution of the young cast members which added immeasurably to the production, although despite their best efforts it rarely raised its head above the parapet to be anything other than a fairly run of the mill Oliver.

As the eponymous hero William Silcox - who shares the role with Wil Smith - did well, with his confident singing and acting carrying him through the nerve wracking opening night.

Veteran Brynmawr actor John Barber's portrayal of Fagin may have owed more to Gelli Gaer than Golders Green, but his solid performance kept the show on track - if nothing else it took considerable chutzpah to get away with his all-dominating prosthetic nose which frankly could easily have decimated the front row with one misplaced sniff.

On a serious note it meant that when the nose combined with the traditional Fagin hat, any facial features were completely lost which made any connection with the character difficult.

That said, his numbers with the junior chorus were good if uninspired.

In the role of the tart with a heart, Nancy, Angela Casa did well, with her voice and acting ability helping to carry the show.

There were times when it would have been nice to have seen some more depth to the characterisation but working within the obvious limitations of the production, she created a warm and likeable character, which by and large at this level, is what Nancy is all about.

The boisterous It's a Fine Life was fun as was Oom-Pah-Pah, and the central ballad As Long as He Needs Me gave an idea of what this actress could be capable of.

As Bill Sikes Rob Bayton was suitably aggressive although again some light and shade would have worked wonders in accentuating the menace of the character.

A few lessons in stage fighting would also not have gone amiss for any of the characters.

I have to admit I'm not sure how to tackle Stephen Baker as The Artful Dodger as to me he seemed just too old to play the cheeky role of the 'dirty juvenile'.

While his performance was perfectly sound his age altered the dynamic of the piece and as a result numbers like Consider Yourself and I'd Do Anything didn't quite work.

As always with ALOC the chorus work was very good although the large set made movement difficult and as a result often looked messy. - especially in numbers like Oom-Pah-Pah, which looked lovely until the chorus started to move.

There were also some sound cameo appearances - the tried and tested Mike Holland used his comic abilities to their best as Mr Bumble and Val Rosser was a terrific Widow Corney although some of her more comic upstage moments were lost as a result of basic stagecraft flaws elsewhere.

Nigel Hawyes and Jenny Morrison also played for laughs as Mr and Mrs Sowerberry while Emily Richards made a flirtatious Charlotte and Craig Legg a Kenneth Williams-esque Noah.

As Old Sally, Adoree Flower died beautifully before being unceremoniously hauled off stage in a sack.

Another who stood out - and not for the wrong reasons - was Nia Hawyes, who was convincing in the role of Nancy's sidekick Bet and whose appearance bodes well for the future.

In all, this was a show which swung dramatically from the grim to the enjoyable - the second act was thankfully a huge improvement and proves the unwritten rule of critics that it pays to stay to the end.

However there were times when it tip-toed into pantomime territory - as the Sowerberrys and Bumble chased Oliver across the stage I fully expected a strobe light to kick in accompanied by the Dick Barton theme tune.

To give the company its due, for a first night it went remarkable smoothly - apart from the visible white socks in the opening scene - with only the minimum number of pregnant pauses and prompts - sadly this could not really make up for a production which had barely skimmed the surface directorially and failed to get to the root of what makes this show so good.

Having said all that, I am going to break the habit of a lifetime with this particular production and take my life in my hands to return to the theatre tonight and see the show all over again.

With two boys sharing the lead, it seems only fair to give both a review and I look forward to being able to report next week that I really didn't see the same show as that Liz Davies...