THERE was a full house for the newly-formed Princes Acting Company’s first production.

The company, which has been set up by director Melissa Wenn, is hoping to bring drama back to the area.

Evan Placey's Girls Like That has a cast of eight 14 to 17-year-old girls and the audience is up on the stage up close and personal with the actors at Clacton’s Princes Theatre.

It is an ensemble play exploring the pressures on young people today in the wake of advancing technology.

When a naked photograph of schoolgirl Scarlett goes viral, rumours spread across smartphones like wildfire and her reputation becomes toxic, threatening to shatter the fragile unity of the girls she has grown up with.

Using music and dance sequences, and featuring shifts in time to explore the evolution of feminist consciousness, the play focuses on adolescent female friendship in the present day and its fragility in the face of societal and cultural pressures.

Melissa said: “We were delighted to have a full house for the opening night and it is a first for the Princes Theatre to have the audience on stage with the cast. It creates a totally new environment and is quite different.

“There are plenty of other types of shows being performed but we want to bring back drama to Tendring.”

The cast members are Persephone Alexander, Phoebe Cannell, Rebecca Deane, Lola Garlick, Tegan Nice, Evie Perryman, Izzy Preston and Kathryn Webster.

The play is not suitable for those under aged 14 and the audience seats are only accessible by stairs.

Tickets, priced £10, for Thursday and Friday’s performances are available from the box office on 01255 686633 or princestheatre.co.uk.

On Sunday the company is staging its first in a series of workshops and it will be put on by Jack Gogarty. It will deal with theatre college auditions techniques providing top tips with individual feedback.

More information is available from the box office on 01255 686633.