IT'S more than 50 years since Fiddler on the Roof premiered on Broadway, but it has lost none of its power, its themes still relevant today as Tevye and his family's displacement from their village finds poignant echoes in the lives of today's migrants.

And Hereford Cathedral School's impressive production, which can be seen today and tomorrow at The Courtyard, delivered the light and shade, the heartbreak and humour of the piece with considerable aplomb and some outstanding singing and acting.

And not even the fact that the show was stopped almost before it had started when a small fire in the kitchen forced an evacuation appeared to faze this talented cast. Picking up where they'd left off, the lyrics of the number so rudely interrupted drew a laugh from the audience:

"Maybe I've learned

Playing with matches

A girl can get burned"

And they were off as if nothing had happened.

Fiddler on the Roof is a show that packs in a lot - about love, about loss, about change and how hard it is to let go of traditions - as well as a score full of instantly recognisable songs. And what a cast HCS gathered - Johannes Moore clearly relished his role as Tevye, making the most of the one-liners the script gifted him and reliably pulling in the laughs, but he was adept at shifting mood - from railing at the unfairness of his lot to resignation at the change inevitably blowing towards him - to create a complex and confused man who finds himself at a crossroads. Add a stunning voice that wouldn't have been out of place on a professional stage and the show was guaranteed a strong central performance.

The truth, is, however, that in a huge ensemble cast, everyone played their part - with more great singing from Rachel Roper (who, like Johannes is aiming for a career in music), Briony Seden, Emily Prosser, Matthew Owen (here making his singing debut), Livi van Warmelo and Hope Pugh has Tevye's wife Golde.

Everyone involved from the cast to staff in the music, drama and English departments at HCS is to be congratulated on a brilliant show, one that made one pinch oneself occasionally as a reminder that not a single member of the cast has yet left school!

Fiddler on the Roof is at The Courtyard tonight, Wednesday, and tomorrow, Thursday at 7.30pm. To book, call the box office on 01432 340555 or visit courtyard.org.uk