Sidmouth Youth Theatre is set to mark its 40th anniversary.

Founder and director Angela Davies plans a celebration to honour the approximately 5,000 young people involved in all aspects of theatre over the years.

Starting in 1985, she has directed and produced 50 shows at The Manor Pavilion Theatre.

These productions have fostered a love of theatre among Sidmouth's youth, with performances including Les Misérables, West Side Story, Titanic, and We Will Rock You.

Angela said: "I want the audience to leave the theatre having forgotten they have watched young people perform."

This approach has seen many former members go on to successful careers in the creative industries.

Alumni can now be found in the West End, on TV and in films, as well as working as composers, sound designers, stage managers, lighting engineers, filmmakers, writers, events managers, CGI creators, singers, vocal coaches, voice-over artists, directors, producers, costume designers, models, designers, and make-up artists.

Having recently retired from teaching drama at Sidmouth College, Davies now plans to focus her energies on further developing the youth theatre.

Next year's show, set to take place in early April at The Manor Pavilion, will be a celebration of her work with young people and will feature both the current company and returning alumni.

Auditions will be held for any young person in Sidmouth and surrounding areas who does not attend the college and would like to be involved.

The auditions will be held at The Manor Pavilion Arts Centre on Wednesday, December 4, between 5pm and 7pm.

Those auditioning must be between the ages of 13 and 20 and will be asked to improvise with a group using a given stimulus and to sing a 30-second extract from a musical theatre song.

Decisions will be made before Christmas, with the celebration set to launch on Sunday, January 5, at the Arts Centre.