Inspired by experiencing a performance of Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne, a group of young people (in collaboration with Glyndebourne Education, Brighton Youth Offending Service and Audio Active) created this new musical - Johnny Boy – all in only two months.

Johnny “the Don” was a leader who would not take no for an answer. He could have anything he wanted and get away with it. Mrisi Makondo-Wills had great presence in the title role, exuding an air of authority and charm tinged with a little evil to produce a layered and mature performance.

All the cast approached their roles, and particularly their musical numbers, with enthusiasm and emotion. The music was a mixture of melody and rap, with some lovely lyrics. Jess Willard was astonishing as Ellie, with the most beautiful, pitch-perfect voice which was full of emotion.

It’s the first time most of these actors, if not all of them, had performed on stage, and it showed, with two of them still carrying scripts. But when you think that these young people had created this whole thing themselves, and that the Youth Offending Team collaborated to make this happen, perhaps a different yardstick should be used.

The messages were poignant: stand up for yourself; stand up for what you believe in; pay for what you’ve done wrong and have faith in the possibility of second chances.

This group channelled their energies and created something new and quite wonderful, and the audience absolutely loved it.