A ground-breaking 'town and gown' production of Leonard Bernstein's musical West Side Story opens at Wolvercote village hall, Oxford, on November 19.

Robin McDiarmid, as Tony, and Madeleine Woolgar, as Maria

North Oxford Youth Theatre has teamed up with musical director Ian Taylor, a graduate of Lady Margaret Hall, and six musicians from Oxford University.

NOYT director Peter Bridges said: "This is the first time we have had this sort of collaboration with members of the university getting involved in the community. It is very encouraging."

Thirty-two of NOYT's 44 youth members have parts in the show, headed by Madeleine Woolgar and Robin McDiarmid.

All five performances of the musical, based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, have already sold out.