SCHOOLBOYS are transforming into a multitude of beautiful animals to tackle an ambitious community opera with help from local musicians.

Pupils at The Grange will be performing as lions, tigers and bears among 47 other creatures as they retell the story of Noah’s Ark through Benjamin Britten’s multifaceted show, Noye’s Fludde.

Taking place at The Blake Theatre on 17th and 18th March, the immersive extravaganza, which has been described as ‘Britten meets Blue Peter’, is the perfect way to introduce youngsters to classical music.

Alongside every boy at The Grange, 50 extra musicians including senior pupils from Monmouth School, recorder players from the town, and a professional string quartet are also part of the cast.

Professional opera singers will play the parts of Mr and Mrs Noah.

Joe Walton, music coordinator at The Grange, said: “This is very different to a musical. It’s an opera written for a local community to perform. It’s written to be a piece that everyone can take part in, particularly children. There are around 130 boys at The Grange and 100 will be animals forming the chorus. The rest of the boys are playing strings, brass and percussion instruments – including one created from sandpaper. One student, Theo, will be creating the sound of rain with suspended mugs. The mugs work in a similar manner to a xylophone. The beautiful instruments have been generously loaned to the school by Raglan based handbell group, Millenium Chimes.”

Luckily for the pupils, who range in age from seven to 11, trainee art teachers from UWE in Bristol volunteered their time to help create the impressive range of animal masks.

“Our art teacher Simon Huson is also a lecturer at the university and he set his students the task of creating the templates of each animal mask,” Joe added.

“They came in for two full days and worked with the boys to make these brilliant masks, which the boys have been decorating since September.”

Tickets cost £10 for adults and £5 for children and the performance lasts for one hour, starting at 7pm. To book, visit theblaketheatre.org or call 01600 719 401.