A SEVENTEEN year old A-level student from Ilkley is part of the community ensemble performing alongside the professional cast of Anita and Me at Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, this week

Following auditions in October 2016 Léona McLoughlin was chosen to perform with the production which runs until Saturday, March 25. She said: "I have been a part of local theatre groups since the age of four, with dance, singing and acting experiences in many local theatres. I am extremely excited to be a part of the community ensemble of Anita and Me.”

The professional company performing Meera Syal's much loved novel Anita and Me includes Shobna Gulati (Coronation Street, Dinner Ladies) as ‘Daljit,

Laura Aramayo as ‘Anita’ and Aasiya Shah as ‘Meena’.

Other members of the community ensemble are: Prabhdeep Kaur, Molly May, Michelle O'Malley, Jayne Whitehead, Jonathan Green and Oliver Hirst.

Michelle O’Malley from Leeds said: “I am delighted to be joining the Touring Consortium again after a wonderful experience in A Tale of Two Cities last year. Anita and Me is fun and vibrant and I can't wait to be part of it.”

Anita and Me tells the poignant coming-of-age tale of Meena, a young girl growing up in the only Punjabi family in a 1970s Black Country mining village. Meena spends her days happily getting into scrapes with the other local children until one day the impossibly cool Anita enters her life. Suddenly Meena knows exactly who she wants to be but is Anita all that she seems? Soon Meena's world is turned upside down as she is caught between two very different cultures.

Anita And Me paints a comic, poignant, compassionate and colourful portrait of village life in the era of flares, power cuts, glam rock, decimalisation and Ted Heath.

Anita and Me, Alhambra Theatre, Bradford. Tuesday 21 – Saturday 25 March 2017. *Tickets: £27.50 - £13.50. Call the Box Office on 01274 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk

*All prices shown include booking fees but are subject to postage charge if applicable. Bradford Theatres usual terms and conditions apply.