OPEN-AIR theatre in England is the triumph of optimism over experience. But every year the summer workshops at the Theatre Royal culminate in an ambitious outdoor production in the Ball Court at Prior Park College, a fantastic setting, given good weather.

For pre-show picnickers on the slopes behind the college there is a breathtaking view of the city of Bath.

This year's Storm on the Lawn, as the event is called, was the most ambitious yet.

It was the first attempt at a musical and given that the full ensemble of 62 actors between the ages of 12 and 21, technicians and backstage crew, under the guidance of professionals, had only two and a half weeks to pull the show together, the first night was a triumph.

Even the weather co-operated for all but the last ten minutes when the heavens opened but the cast didn't flinch and the audience stoically pulled hoods over their heads and splashed their applause through damp cold hands.

It wasn't a night for encores, though.

Many of the participants are members of drama groups and bands or choirs. But for some this was their first taste of the thespian life.

The stage discipline was thoroughly professional, changes of set and costume executed swiftly and seemlessly, and the company had achieved a cohesion.

There were, among the leading players some potentially fine future actors. Voice-wise they were excellent, particularly Zach Lipman as Professor Higgins, Isabella Watson as Eliza Doolittle, Adam Bell as Alfred Doolittle, Jessica Lowry as the professor's housekeeper Mrs Pearce and Evvy Miller as his mother.

It's the body language that gives away the inexperience. Close your eyes and listen and they come across with conviction and authority, but the young men particularly have a problem with what to do with their arms and hands. But as confidence grows the tension will disappear and with it the awkwardness.

And they have every reason to be confident. They delivered a show to be proud of and again with more confidence the choral quality will improve. When the whole ensemble let themselves go with I'm Getting Married in the Morning, they were magnificent.

There was no doubting the enthusiasm either. Whatever the size of the role each actor threw himself or herself into the part.

Credit must go to director Caroline Leslie and musical director Annemarie Lewis Thomas who successfully substituted a trio of musicians for the customary full orchestra.

Such is the reputation of the Storm on the Lawn event that the show sold out rapidly and an extra performance was laid on for Sunday afternoon.

My Fair Lady

Bath Theatre Royal

Storm on the Lawn at Prior Park College