St. Ives Youth Theatre - News Release
	Date:	29th May 2009
	Subject	Tom Sawyer takes the Stand
	Contacts	For press enquiries about St. Ives Youth Theatre, please contact Ian Lloyd on 07803 088185. More information about the St Ives Youth Theatre is available on www.siyt.co.uk

SIYT haven’t been brawling the streets of St. Ives again but nevertheless they have been in court – but all in a good cause. SIYT are now preparing for this summer’s performance of ‘Tom Sawyer’ which includes a tense court scene. In preparation, SIYT members were given a guided tour of the new court buildings in Huntingdon and also visited the Old Bailey in London.

“Most of us think we’re familiar with courts and their ways of working from TV dramas and film, but these rarely capture the formality and atmosphere of real court rooms” commented SIYT’s Artistic Director, Jonathan Salt. “To be in the cells and to stand in a witness box really was daunting” said SIYT member, Joe Davies who will be playing Tom Sawyer at the Burgess Hall in St. Ives in July and has recently become a member of the National Youth Musical Theatre. Also as part of the preparations for Tom Sawyer, SIYT have a Charity Barn Dance on Saturday 6th June at Burleigh Hill Farm at 7pm (tickets are available on the door and from www.siyt.co.uk).

It ’s going to be a busy summer for SIYT with their return to the Edinburgh Fringe with the highly acclaimed musical ‘Vision’ which received rave reviews for performances in St. Ives and the North west of England last year. “Our team have managed to secure a great venue and promoter,” said SIYT Chair Chris Lewis, “we’re very excited at the prospect of performing at the Sweet Grand, a high profile venue at the heart of the festival”. SIYT received great praise for their spring production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and are working hard to ensure that this summer’s production continue to provide high quality entertainment.

The company will be performing Vision at 2.30pm each day during the opening week of the festival, 8th-15th August. If you can’t make if to Edinburgh, SIYT will be performing Vision at Hinchingbrooke Performing Arts Centre for one night only on 24th July at 7.30pm. For more information, please visit www.siyt.co.uk).

Photographs of SIYT in court can be made available and SIYT members can be made available for interview.

Charity Barn Dance – 6th June 2009 at 7pm, Burleigh Hill Farm, St. Ives
Tom Sawyer – 15th–18th July 2009 at 7.30pm, Burgess Hall, St. Ives
Vision – 24th July 2009 at 7.30pm, Hinchingbrooke Performing Arts centre

Ends