THIS month Oxford Youth Theatre, based at the Pegasus Theatre, in Magdalen Road, Oxford, celebrates 45 years of theatrical innovation and success. Starting from the most humble of beginnings, Pegasus is now regarded as one of the country's leading centres for youth theatre. Francesca Bardsley reports.

The Pegasus Theatre in East Oxford did not have the most auspicious of beginnings.

Its very first building, described fondly by former members of the Magdalen Road-based theatre as "the shed" was originally built in the early 1960s as a canteen for the SS Mary and John Primary School. But it was taken over by the youth service, which wanted to start a drama group and in 1962 Oxford Youth Theatre put on its first performance.

It celebrates its 45th anniversary this year, making it one of the longest continuously-running youth theatres in the country.

Gill Jaggers, head of marketing, said: "It seemed as though no-one else wanted to use this place apart from the drama group because it was so cold and uncomfortable.

At the first performance, A Christmas Carol, when the Oxford Mail reporter came to review it, he stood up and whacked his head and we thought we would get a terrible review, but that turned out not to be the case."

From these small beginnings, the theatre began to grow thanks to hard graft by the young people involved, starting from a core of about 40 performers and quickly growing to 200. Since its inception, hundreds, if not thousands, of young people have played their part in shaping what the theatre is today.

Ms Jaggers said: "The rest of the workshops, which are still used as rehearsal spaces and for set-building, were built by the children themselves who are all now in their 50s and 60s. But they just grew out of this space and realised if they wanted to do as much as they were doing, they needed another space, so they raised the money to build the theatre."

So the Pegasus Theatre was built, opening in 1975 with the same auditorium which is used today, and which will be retained during a £6.3m refurbishment programme due to begin next spring, with improvements, such as dressing rooms and a backstage area.

Ms Jaggers said: "It's a beautiful, intimate space where you can get so close to the action you can see every single detail. The size of the stage is enormous compared to the size of the whole building and it's very flexible.

"The only thing which isn't flexible is we don't have a wing at the side of the stage. So many times we have had 60 to 70 kids running through the rain from the rehearsal and workshop space and taking their shoes off as quietly as they can behind the curtain.

"What has been quite interesting about looking at the history of productions is they chose quite challenging productions in terms of being new work and work that wasn't what an amateur group would traditionally do."

Taryn Storey, who worked at the theatre between 1997 and 2002 and has come back to help with research for a reunion planned for January, said: "There are threads going through which link the sort of work that was done then and what is being done now.

"We have always done exchanges, with Hungary, the Czech Republic, Holland and France. And it has always been challenging, inspiring new work."

As well as being home to the Oxford Youth Theatre, the Pegasus has seen numerous varied acts put on. Every year about 50 productions are staged, and since it reopened after a four-week break in the summer, there have been performances of Indian dance and music, disabled comedian Francesca Martinez, a production inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice books, a workshop fusing street dance and hip hop with physical theatre and improvisation, an intergenerational dance project and a behind the scenes exhibition of photography from the Pegasus. And while professional artists were originally brought in for the young actors and dancers to learn from, it ended up being a two-way process.

Ms Jaggers said: "Originally it was about raising standards but everybody was quite surprised at what happened because the outcome was they exchanged ideas."

Last year 400 people were involved in the Oxford Youth Theatre but annually more than 1,300 people take part in arts pursuits linked to the theatre. The theatre is throwing open its doors on January 19, with the hope of bringing back as many former and current members of the theatre as possible.

During the evening, there will be a live band, a performance by current Oxford Youth Theatre members, video reports, displays and memorabilia and - possibly - a video booth where people can share their experiences.

The latest phase in Pegasus Theatre and Oxford Youth Theatre's history will come to an end in the spring, but it will be the beginning of a new era. Ms Jaggers added: "For the public the most important thing is having a nice refurbished auditorium and more space in front of house.

"We have got ideas about working with different groups and different agencies and exploring new ideas. We want to be flexible and open it is a very exciting time."

If you would like to attend the reunion in January, contact Gill Jaggers on 01865 792209 or email gill.jaggers@pegasustheatre.org.uk