LAST week the halls of Peebles High School were decked not with boughs of holly but with the sinister green tendrils of an extra-terrestrial man-eating plant for the school’s fun-packed production of the bizarre and darkly comic rock musical Little Shop of Horrors. For three nights only, the assembly hall of took on the grimy and ramshackle façade of impoverished downtown New York which acted as the backdrop to this hilariously far-fetched and unsettling tale of a struggling florist shop and its employees who have an unexpected altercation with a sentient and highly charismatic piece of shrubbery from outer space.

Audiences were transfixed by the skilled and spirited Sean Tennant who played the part of bumbling, socially inept yet lovable Seymour Krelborn, a perfectly unwitting target for the antics of the insidious and controlling plant known as Audrey II, expertly voiced by Aidan Reed and manipulated by Matthew Whalley. Emma Raeburn delivered an exceptional performance as sweet, caring and horribly mistreated Audrey.

Josh Gardiner was the rebellious Orin Scrivello, a young dentist with a sadistic obsession and Emily Hamilton played the irritable and corrupt shop owner, Mrs Mushnik. Cameron Coull, Abigail Harper and Matthew Whalley played invaluable supporting roles and all events were observed by the sweet-voiced, close harmony Greek chorus of Lorna Adams, Kristen Beards, Abby Darling, Alice Jones, Hallie Murray and Holly Scott. Music was provided by the fabulous live band.

Audiences commented on their enjoyment of one of the most imaginative, surreal, irreverent and technically ambitious Peebles High School shows in recent memory.