WILLIAM Howard School is inviting theatre-goers to join them in 'the woods' ahead of the opening night of its school production.

The Brampton-based secondary school's latest production will see students adapt Dennis Kelly's black comedy, which was written in 2007.

The production, which will involve students from year nine to year 13, will debut on Wednesday, November 27 before a final performance on Thursday, November 28. 

(Image: William Howard School) The production has been fronted by Michelle Serrechia, William Howard School's head of drama, dance, and performing arts, and drama teacher Rikki Inglesfield, who speaking ahead of opening night explained more about DNA and invited locals to attend.

They said: "This year we decided to stage DNA by Dennis Kelly, a black comedy written in 2007 about a group of teenagers, who could be described as a 'gang' and how they deal with the repercussions of their actions.

(Image: William Howard School) "Despite a setback of the school being closed on our tech day due to a burst water pipe, we are positive that all the rehearsals and hard work will pay off on opening night tomorrow and we hope you can join us in 'the woods'."

In an attempt to innovate the school's production, DNA at William Howard School will see the audience sit in traverse, either side of the stage, to immerse them in the action.

This comes in addition to a number of other decisions that have been taken to step up the school's production, including the choice to double-cast DNA to give more students a creative platform.

(Image: William Howard School) Michelle and Rikki said: "As a drama department, we decided to stage the production in traverse to further immerse the audience into the performance and make them feel like they are in the woods and part of the drama.

"We have transformed our performance hall to create a theatrical space like we’ve never done before.

"This has really challenged our students in their perception of performing and how to block a production in traverse effectively.

(Image: William Howard School) "To add an extra challenge, we have double-cast the production to enable more students to take part and shine."

Tickets for William Howard School's production can be reserved via drama.contact@williamhoward.cumbria.sch.uk and are £5 for adult tickets and £3 concession.