Do not go down to the Theatre Royal this week thinking: “They’ll be good, but they’re only kids.”

There was only one word on my lips as I emerged onto Windsor High Street at 10pm last night: ‘Wow’.

Until Saturday 5, the Windsor theatre is over-run by a vast and hugely talented group of young people from Songtime Theatre Arts, a weekend theatre school with a whole list of musical performances to their name.

This week they take on Billy Elliot as part of the Billy Elliot Youth Theatre, a scheme celebrating the fifth anniversary of the professional show.

Billy Elliot is one of the smash-hits of the West End, telling the story of a young boy struggling to realise his dreams of being a ballerina in County Durham amid the harsh backdrop of the miners’ strike in the mid 80s.

This in itself offers a real challenge to any performance troupe: ballet, singing and Durham accents! But the performance at Windsor does not disappoint (give or take the odd Jamaican accent slipping out!).

Billy (played by Max Bowden in the performance I saw) is just outstanding. With a flawless accent, exquisite dance abilities and an electric presence every time he walks on stage, this is a young man who will go far. Equally worth a mention are Lucy King as Mrs Wilkinson and Grace Morrison as Debbie, a pair of talented youngsters who would have a place on the West End stage.

However, the highest accolades must go to the cast as a whole. Their faces shine with energy the whole time, the dancing and choreography is just incredible.

Under the guiding hands of Leon Cooke (an original West End ‘Billy’) the company produce some staggering dance routines, with every single person - from the tallest gangliest teenage to a tiny tot of five – being in the right place at the right time. The show swings from high comedy (Lewis Bingley as the cross-dressing Michael!) to moments of real poignancy (Billy singing to his dead Mother), and each scene is carried off to perfection. There is such commitment that you forget that usually these performers are sat behind school desks!

I can’t sing their praises loud enough – you simply must go and see it for yourself!

A huge congratulations to the whole cast and the team of professionals who have given this talented group a touch of sparkle that shines to the upper circle and warms you all the way home!

The show runs from Monday 31 May to Saturday 5 June at the Theatre Royal Windsor. Tickets are £10 - £26.50 and are available from the box office on 01753 853888. Shows Monday-Saturday 7.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday 2.30pm.

www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk