It's wartime England and the country is on the brink of WWll. In London, hundreds of children are being put on to trains and evacuated to rural villages all over the country.

On one of the trains is a deprived boy, William Beech. He can't read or write but he's lucky enough to be billeted to live with a lonely old widow, Thomas Oakley.

Thomas Oakley unfortunately lost his wife and baby as she was giving birth and is now left on his own to pick up the pieces. When he agrees to take in William it literally changes both his life and that of the child's

This is the famous story of the iconic novel 'Goodnight Mister Tom' by Michelle Magorian which was later turned into a film starring John Thaw.

Alsager Community Theatre's (ACT) adapation at Alsager Civic which began on Wednesday (26 November) night and runs until Saturday (29 November) works well and is full of twists and turns.

Alsager Nub News was lucky enough to see the opening night's performance which showed powerful acting performances by the entire cast. We previously highlighted the four youngsters here taking part in the play.

They are Ben Baldwin (9), a pupil at Highfields Primary School in Alsager and Robyn Bateman (10), a pupil at Ravensmead Primary School who take it in turns to play the part of Zach.

Leon Parr (10) a pupil at St Edward's, Leek and Henry Cruxton (10) who goes to Excalibur School, take it in turns to play the part of William.

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The four children during rehearsals for the play. (Photo: Nub News)

The hall at Alsager Civic is cleverly set out with a mock gravestone for the parts where Thomas Oakley played by Frank McGregor talks to his late wife who, like William, shared a love of painting.

Not quite theatre in the round, the audience is seated around three sides of the 'stage' in the centre with the story unfolding in front of them allowing the cast to come and go from two sides.

Various pieces of period furniture are used throughout the performance which sees clever set changes and equally clever costumes from the 1940s and some special effects for William's bruises which disappear as his life improves.

The scene where William is taken ill and is seen in hospital sees a real-life bed wheeled into the room and there are other clever bits used during the production.

We hear a recording of the Prime Minister of the time declare war in 1939 after Germany invaded Poland and other events from the day cleverly interspersed into the play.

All in all, it's an excellent production of the heart warming 'Goodnight Mister Tom' and as Alsager Community Theatre say, tells the power of love and how it can overcome even the "most sinister of evils".

As ACT director Victoria Vorwerg said: "Despite the time setting of WWll, the story is as real today as ever. The love that can span generations, the security of friendships and good neighbours is as perennial a the fields and sky we live amongst.

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"It is a treasure we should always respect and nurture in the face of today's challenging world. I hope you are amongst those you love as you watch this touching tale and revel in the warmth of love it can bring to our hearts."

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