At first, it was just about the games; the fun of getting to play at being somebody else and letting all those 'E' additives run wild in dashing around, jumping like a hyperactive bunny and generally yelling loudly at anything I or anyone else did.

And sometimes just for the sake of yelling. Not exactly Shakespeare, I grant you, but everyone has to start somewhere. Then, at the ripe old age of 11 (ish - I'm old, you have to make allowances for slips of memory...) I moved up into my first proper youth theatre group for a performance of Bugsy Malone, and I can honestly say it changed me completely.

I've had a number of big buzzes in my life so far - first kiss, first night on the town, travelling to the top of the Empire State Building to name a few - but one major one which will always stay with me is the moment I spoke my first line on stage in front of a packed audience. I can't remember for the life of me what that line was (I played Doodle - go check it up), but the harsh brightness and heat of the lights, the discomfort of an ill-fitting gangster hat, the sense that for the duration of that line, for the expiration of that breath, I had them all, all eyes were focused on me...that's enough to overwhelm any 11 year old. And, to gleefully use a tired old cliché, I caught the 'bug'.

And for the next few years that's what it was for me - it was about working towards those magic two or three nights when that audience was all mine. One buzz followed another, culminating in Star Trek spoof 'Dazzle' where, at 16, I got to play the lead role, and milk that audience for everything it was worth (technically, I had been cast in a lead role slightly earlier, but an unfortunate car/me incident 7 days before performance week, which my friends even today find bizarrely amusing, got in the way so I never got to do it...).

Playing the aptly-named Sam Galactic in 'Dazzle' (fave line -"Everything in my life is big!") was, without doubt, the high point of my entire time with the theatre up until then, but in the 4 or so years since something has developed that wasn't quite as pronounced in the earlier days - a real sense of closeness. The group isn't just a means by which we produce plays any more, its a closely-knit gathering of friends who see each other just as much outside of the theatre as they do within its walls. Everyone knows and trusts everyone else, brought together by a shared interest and by the vivacity and energy a collection of such different people produces (and by the knowledge that we've all made a prat of ourselves in front of the others at some point). There is a reasonably wide age gap across each of the groups which makes for variety and a sense of protectiveness, allows the younger ones to associate with older people who can give advice, listen, or just use the age gap as an excuse to be incredibly immature! There is no judgement with regard to colour, to beliefs, background, interests. There's no accepted way of dressing, or type of music, or...well, anything, in fact. If you're friendly, fun and respectful to others, you're welcome. And if you're shy and unsure, we can change that! The closeness of the group and practice of drama help develop confidence, individualism and a sense of self-belief, factors which have changed me almost beyond recognition from the quiet 8-year-old wallflower who decided he wanted to be Philip Schofield 12 years ago.

Simply put, it's a good thing which has made my life, and the lives of many, many others, that bit better.

Oh, and we throw the maddest, most scandalous parties in our region. Cameras can be cruel things.