Wootton Bassett Theatre Young Actors' Company, which was established at premises behind the Red Lion four years ago, has a promising future at its new town centre venue, The Theatre Upstairs at the Angel.

The recent grand opening featured special performances of Spring Awakening, written in 1890-91 by German dramatist Frank Wedekind.

The play, which was premiered in Berlin in 1906, and was aptly sub-titled A Children's Tragedy, exposes youthful ignorance that is far from proverbial bliss.

The play's first production in English was in 1917 in New York City, and a 2006 musical adaptation gained Tony Awards on Broadway.

The original script, which criticises the era's repressive attitudes to sexual matters, caused controversy with its depiction of eroticism, suicide and abortion. Even puberty was a taboo subject.

One of the young characters expressed the children's dilemma perfectly: "How will we know if our parents don't tell us?"

The Royal Wootton Bassett production, with staging at each end of the theatre, and seating that faced the central performance aisle, was a remarkable achievement that reflected credit on the able cast, aged 12 to 17.

They included Natalie Marsden, Ryan Witchell, Greg Greenaway, Lydia West, Leanne Wallace, Caoimhe Kelly, Verity Shah, Beth Sargent, Georgia Halpin and Abbie Romans. Dix Aston was artistic director and Gareth Williams musical director.

The lighting was effective, apart from occasional distracting glare of side spotlights.

The music, performed with great verve, featured an ebullient chorus but lacked clear enunciation of lyrics in some quieter numbers.

In view of the fact that some members of the company took on their roles quite recently, the production was startlingly good.