ALL the world's a stage for two Bolton theatre groups which are set to take part in one of the country's most prestigious Shakespeare festivals.

Members of the Pin On The Tale theatre company and A-level performing arts students from Canon Slade School in Bradshaw will perform two plays at this week's Youth Shakespeare Festival.

The week-long event at Salford's Lowry Theatre is part of a national festival which runs until March 19. In July all the participating companies will be invited to appear at Liverpool's Shakespeare In The City event as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations.

The productions promise to highlight the very best of Bolton's young creative talent in two very different shows.

The students at Canon Slade have taken the Cirque du Soleil as the inspiration for their extravagant performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, tomorrow evening, starting at 7pm.

Robert Flitcroft, aged 18, who plays Demetrius, said: "We've been doing a lot of research on their past productions to see how we could twist the weird and freaky elements of Midsummer Night's Dream.

"The group is quite physical and the gymnastic element of Cirque du Soleil was something we found quite appealing."

Meanwhile, Pin On The Tale, who formed at the Phoenix Theatre, in Bark Street, are presenting a pared-down version of the tragedy Julius Caesar, tonight, curtain up at 7pm.

Wendy Ellis, artistic director at the Phoenix, said: "They didn't want to do a play that everyone else is doing. They wanted a challenge and to do something that is difficult rather than taking the easy option.

"The other reason they chose to do it is because of the politics involved. They're not your typical youth theatre group and the amount that they know about politics is amazing.

"You can't not be proud of them. It's an amazing, if somewhat insane, choice to make."

Wendy says that the fact that the Phoenix Theatre is a dedicated space for young people has definitely attracted members.

She said: "I think the advantage that we have here is that we're not a professional theatre. A lot of the people who come here won't go to the Octagon because they're afraid that they won't be accepted.

"And I think it's a class thing as well - we can beat about the bush but theatre is still seen as a very middle class/upper class thing, and a lot of our kids have come in off the street and don't have two pennies to rub together."

  • Tickets £6.50. For more information, visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 787 5793.