The rough and tumble of Romford Market is being conjured up not far from Hitchin’s own serried stalls this week as the Big Spirit Youth Theatre team bring their latest production to the town’s Queen Mother Theatre.

Market Boy, a raucous rites-of-passage drama set in the Thatcherite heartland of the upwardly-mobile East End of the 1980s which had its premiere at the National Theatre in 2006, begins a short run on Wednesday night.

The production continues until Saturday, with 7.45pm performances each evening – admission is £8 and you can get more details by calling 01462 455166 or visiting www.qmt.org.uk – but audiences are warned that the play contains strong language and adult themes.

Big Spirit Theatre, billed as the leading youth theatre group in Hertfordshire and with movie star Ben Whishaw among its alumni, was founded in 1984 and is based at the Walsworth Road home of the Bancroft Players.

Coming up later in the summer is an open-air production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which promises a new take on an old favourite.

The evening show will run from Thursday, July 9, to Saturday, July 11, and tickets are available now – you can get more details from the theatre box office.