THE past week has seen young actors from around County Durham take to the stage in a variety of roles.

In south Durham, actors from opposite ends of the globe have forged lasting links through an international theatre exchange.

The Jackass Theatre group was chosen to take part in a Contacting the World initiative which develops communications between cultures.

Group member Joseph Robson, 18, from Bishop Auckland, visited New Zealand earlier this year with theatre artist Julie Ward, of Jack Drum.

And this weekend, Jackass plays host to New Zealander Michael Koloi, 23, of the Massive Company, in Auckland.

Jackass, which has won several arts awards as well as the Philip Lawrence Award for community involvement, were chosen out of 100 groups to take part in the project.

Mr Koloi, who spent three years at drama school and is a professional artist, auditioned with 80 others to win his place.

He said: "The idea is to encourage the creative process by giving us new experiences and letting us see how other groups work.

"The theatre has a good following in New Zealand."

Jackass has created a show inspired by the project. Finn and Feather will be premiered at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Sunday, July 2.

Contacting the World is supported by a number of organisations, including Arts Council England and the British Council.

In another part of the county, talented pupils at Woodham Community Technology College staged the school's first musical production for a decade.

More than 60 students were involved in the production of Bugsy Malone last Friday, when the school hall was packed out by a sell-out audience.

The cast, aged from 11 to 17, sang and danced their way through the captivating story of 1920s gang warfare.

Pupils had been in rehearsals for the show since September, meeting as often as three times a week to fine-tune the production.

A school spokesperson said: "For those involved and those who saw the production, the memory will last for a lifetime."

And youngsters were treading the boards in Weardale where primary school pupils joined students from Wolsingham School and Community College for two sell-out performances.

Show Stoppers featured songs and dances from West End hits such as The Lion King, Les Miserables, Chicago, Oliver and Chess and films Moulin Rouge, Dirty Dancing and Grease.

Ashleigh Maddison, Alex Close, Ian Weir and Robert Harrison led a cast which included Dean Tinkler, Charlotte Hird, Nicole Rowley, Georgia Maddison, Fiona Stanley and Roisin Beck-Taylor.

Children from Peases West, Hamsterley, St John's Chapel, Wolsingham, Tow Law Millennium and Stanley Crook Primary Schools also took part.

The school was granted Performing Arts status last year and recently opened a recording studio.

Headteacher Andrea Crawshaw said: "It was a fabulous show. Students, staff and parents all worked tremendously hard to make it a huge success.

"It was a symbol of our commitment to performing arts, while the involvement of primary school students in each night's performance was also very important."