TWO boys from Cowley are swapping lessons for the limelight as they take part in a professional production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.

Elliott Molloy and Daniel Wilson, both 11, triumphed in open auditions to take part in this week’s performances at Oxford Playhouse by theatre company Talawa.

The company, which produces shows with black and ethnic minority actors, was founded in 1986 in response to the lack of opportunities for non-white actors.

Since then Talawa has put on more than 40 shows and launched the careers of actors including Red Dwarf star Danny John-Jules.

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Elliott and Daniel are each performing three times before the show finishes tomorrow and share the role of Bert, a boy who lives near the main characters, the Keller family.

Set in the 1940s after the Second World War, All My Sons follows businessman Joe Keller who accidentally killed 21 pilots in the war after supplying faulty aircraft engines.

It was Arthur Miller’s first Broadway success after being performed in 1947.

Oxford Mail:

Ray Shell and Dona Croll in All My Sons. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography.

East Oxford Primary School pupil Elliott said: “When you go on stage it’s terrifying but it’s lots of fun.”

Elliott’s father Stuart Molloy, who works for BMW, said: “The first night was fantastic, really brilliant. He got into character straight away, remembered all his lines and did an American accent. I was very proud. It was very intense for him. He’s done other things on stage but nothing like that.”

Elliott has been a student at the Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts in Wheatley for 18 months.

Mr Molloy said: “It’s massively helped his confidence at school, it’s brilliant.”

Cheney School pupil Daniel said: “It’s been quite a big gap between the auditions and the practices.

“My first practice was last week. We’ve been learning the script and doing everything on stage to go over it. I practise with my family at home a lot, it really helped me to learn my lines.”

Daniel has been in other productions, including Evita at the New Theatre Oxford last year, but this is his biggest role yet.

He added: “I love acting, I find it almost relaxing.”

Daniel’s mother Mollie Ashley, a relationship officer at Oxford Brookes University, said: “The company is touring the country and hiring local boys for the role in every town they stop at.

“Daniel is part of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. He goes on Sunday mornings and they told him about the auditions.

“It’s quite exciting for him, this is his first serious role. ”