The tour of The Wizard of Oz by the Ulster Theatre Company is the culmination of their summer training course for young people between the ages of 16 and 26, writes David Bellan.

Four and a half weeks of rehearsals, classes and workshops are followed by a further six weeks of performances, with ongoing classes and tutorials during the day.

They have come to Oxford via Londonderry, Belfast and Birmingham, and finish their tour in York.

What they are presenting is the Royal Shakespeare Company's version of the celebrated film that made a star of Judy Garland at the age of 16, and within the constraints of limited time and budget they make a fair job of it.

The story is all there: the storm that whisks Dorothy and her dog Toto away, the meeting with the Munchkins in their delightful multicoloured costumes and blue wigs, the Scarecrow with no brain, the Tin Man who hasn't a heart and the Cowardly Lion.

And so are Arlen and Harburg's unforgettable tunes, the best known of course Somewhere over the Rainbow from Dorothy and We're off to see the Wizard as she and her companions set off down the Yellow Brick Road through many adventures to find him.

Zoe Rainey sings well as Dorothy, Tin Man Emmet Owens is a pleasure to watch as his joints are oiled and he springs into action, and Daniel Stephens makes a convincing cowardly Lion. But there is one performance that outshines the rest, and can stand any comparison, and that comes from Packy Lee as the Scarecrow.

All in all this is a production more notable for enthusiasm than for polish, but a largely inexperienced cast manages to produce an evening that does it credit, and which was clearly appreciated by the large number of children in the audience.