Footloose is probably the biggest tribute to the 80's that you can ever witness on a stage, SPYS performance on Friday June 20 certainly lived up to that billing.

With popular hits from the time like 'Holding out for a Hero', 'Let's Hear It For The Boy' and obviously the title song 'Footloose' taking audiences back, the youth group performed with maturity beyond their years.

Sodbury Players Youth Section (SPYS) have been breaking all kinds of records this year, with their run to the final of the All England One Act Festival taking them all over the country.

The youth group took on the challenge of Footloose after selling out their previous performances of Beauty And The Beast (2017) and Fame (2016), this show is however much more complex than any of their previous productions.

Footloose is set in 1980's USA, following the story of Ren McCormack who moves from the 'hustle and bustle' of Chicago to a small town called 'Bomont'. However all is not what it seems as the town is oppressed under the guidance of their prophet like Reverend, Shaw Moore.

Following an accident in which four young adults lost their lives, the Reverend campaigns for all 'dancing' to be made illegal. Thus eliminating the chance of an unfortunate re-occurrence of events.

Ren is seen as an outcast, but in this production his relationship with the Reverend's daughter Ariel (Jake Palmer and Rhiannon Williamson respectively) blossoms and tells the story of how sometimes dancing and singing can bring goodness from even the darkest of circumstances.

The role of Reverend Shaw (excellently portrayed by Ryan Carroll) is the supposed villain of the show, even though his aims are simply to prevent another catastrophe and loss of young life. He is also brought to account for his actions by a sincere performance from Abi Hurford as the Reverend's wife Vi.

Ren, along with his new found love Ariel and help from friends Rusty (warmly presented by Lauren Soper) and Willard (impressively played by Louis Cowell) campaign for the abolishment of the law against dance, finding themselves pitted against the Reverend and Ren's potential father-in-law.

With a performance that can be seen as fairly negative and with dark undertones representative of some areas of the USA in that period, this show by SPYS is well measured and confidently directed by the trio of Ross Brown, Kayleigh Rose and Lucy Cragg. The way in which they portray a negative storyline and provide some truly heartfelt, tear-jerking moments is astonishing.

A fantastic and mature performance by individuals and an impressive chorus representing a young group.

You can still get tickets to the final performances of this production at ticketsource.co.uk/sodburyplayers or on the Sodbury Players Facebook page.