YOUNG performers in Salisbury have let Wiltshire’s ancient landscapes provide inspiration for a new outdoor theatre production.

Salisbury Playhouse’s Stage 65 Youth Theatre will be performing in the surroundings of the garden at Salisbury Museum.

A Sublime Feeling has been inspired by the museum’s current exhibition British Art: Ancient Landscapes.

“It is a co-created performance, it really is about myself working alongside the young people and as a director guiding them in the expression of their ideas and responses to a number of different things. We are responding first of all to the exhibition on show at Salisbury Museum. The young people are responding to artworks within the exhibition.

“There are lots of different mediums that the young people are being exposed to. They all deal with the magic, mystery and contested nature of stone circles and chalk halls drawings within the Wiltshire countryside.

“The young people are very active in their reading of the exhibition and their interpretation of the exhibition and contemporisation of some of the work – artists such as William Blake, Turner, Barbara Hepworth.

"It has been really fantastic to see the young people engaging with the art and using it for their own new found appreciation of the landscape around them.”

The young people have been using their own ideas about Stonehenge and Neolithic life to fuse visual arts with performance.

Alex said: “They are a really talented and dedicated bunch of young people. I’ve been really struck by how they have really responded on emotional, intellectual and imaginative levels to each other and to the work."

The performance follows the course of the longest day of the year, with the rising and the setting sun portrayed on a specially constructed set.

Youngsters involved say they found it a "really fun experience" and have enjoyed using their own imaginations rather than working to a script. They also said the experience has boosted their confidence.

A Sublime Feeling is a special theatre performance produced in association with Kazzum, a London-based arts organisation.

Alex Evans, director of A Sublime Feeling for Kazzum, said: “I hope to celebrate the fascinating histories and mysteries of these iconic landmarks and share the perspectives and interpretations of young people as they relate the depictions to ancient landscapes within British art. Expect something visual, visceral, playful and surprising from the young cast which will animate the beautiful setting and connect with this important exhibition of artwork.”

A Sublime Feeling runs from Thursday, August 17 to Saturday19. Tickets cost £12 or £9 for under 16s and are available by calling 01722 320333 or online at salisburyplayhouse.com.

British Art: Ancient Landscapes runs until 3 September and includes work by John Constable, JMW Turner, Eric Ravilious, John Piper and others.