Some of Britain's most talented youngsters, including several from the North-East, will perform in a specially-commissioned show next month.

Members of the National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT), including 21 from the Newcastle and Gateshead area, will appear on stage at Newcastle's Theatre Royal in The Late Sleepers, on August 16 and 17.

Set sometime in the future in the middle of a wasteland a few miles outside the nearest city, the show tells the story of a self-styled vampire gang, whose lifestyle, speech and dancing is inspired by pop videos and classic television shows.

It has been specially commissioned by the NYMT from local writers Paul James and Eric Angus as part of the NYMT North Project, being run in association with the Theatre Royal and The Sage Music Centre.

Tickets for shows, at 7pm on Friday, August 16, and 2pm on Saturday, August 17, are available from the box office on 0870 905 5060.