PERFORMING arts students at Hereford College of Arts will be on stage next week in a production of Oliver Lansley’s award-winning Terrible Infants.

“It did very well in Edinburgh and went to America,” says Mia Gordon, who is producing the show. “Although it’s not often done in this country it’s not controversial like Spring Awakening (the students’ previous production).

“It’s a collection of children’s fables – think Dr Seuss meets Tim Burton – and in our production, everyone on stage plays the storyteller. We are really excited that we have made it more edgy. We said to the students that we were going to do it in the style of one of those bizarre old black and white movies, like Nosferatu or The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, or more recently, Eraserhead. But there are splashes of colour – it’s a really freaky kind of production, with a bit of mambo or salsa style.

“All the cast are members of a dysfunctional theatre company and they’re putting on this play called The Terrible Infants, so they’re playing characters on stage playing characters …and they're all dysfunctional emotionally or physically.”

One element of the production that everyone involved is particularly excited about is the use of aerial dancing, choreographed by dance lecturer and aerial dancer, Gillian Hipp. “We are incredibly excited about that because no other college teaches aerial at this age, though we will only be using it for the Hereford shows, and won’t be able to take it on the road when we tour secondary schools in January.”

Mia adds that all the students have either choreographed or directed a section of the show, “so it really is their show and they’ve come up with some amazing stuff.”

The Terrible Infants is at Hereford College of Arts Folly Theatre from December 11 to xxx. To book, call