It is 400 years since Chipping Norton received its town charter, and last weekend the Chipping Norton Youth Theatre marked the anniversary with a specially written promenade play' that roamed around the town from the theatre to the town hall and back again. The weather was kind, spirits were high, but dodging the through traffic, even in the relative calm of a Friday evening, was a challenge, despite the help of police and traffic wardens and a stern warning from the theatre management to "stay together".

The writer and director of Unlawful Assembly, Jonathan Holmes, took the theme of young love as his starting point, using the story of a local shepherd and one Margaret Henshaw who were trapped in a burning cottage by a jealous rival back in October 1606. In the course of an hour's walk, a young couple, with the theatre audience in tow, were invited to learn about love and life from their encounters with various allegorical figures. While the action could have taken place anywhere with a bit of history, the young actors conveyed an infectious sense of fun along with some fine individual performances.

From an introductory scene in the theatre, the action moved to St Mary's Church, described as "love's threshold". The atmosphere here was one of gloom and doom, with Rhiannon Evans, in the role of Death, making full use of the building's excellent acoustics.

Next we trooped up to Diston's Lane, the setting for Vanity Fair', with some excellent street entertainers. An outstanding salesman, Oliver Goodman, invited us to trade our newly acquired chocolate coins for theatre masks (though I cunningly held on to mine and got a very nice homemade cookie instead), and Coralie Wright, as Fire, performed an amazing fire dance, to the slight consternation of the owner of a car parked nearly and the fascination of the patrons of the Arctic Fish Bar.

After that there was a splendidly choreographed performance on the steps of the town hall, and a concluding scene (pictured) back in the theatre. The cast and production team acquitted themselves with glory and a great time was had by all.