Your am dram star of the week is Suzy Schwartz, who’s appearing in Stourbridge am dram group Side by Side’s own version of As We Like It

Offering their members the opportunity to express themselves via theatrical performance, Side by Side is run by Susan and her team of volunteers providing training in performance arts, while also promoting friendship and building self-confidence.

The group’s latest production takes inspiration from The Bard’s classic tale, As You Like It, but as this is Side by Side’s very own version, it’s entitled As We Like It. The show has a ‘Summer of Love’ feel and includes popular music from the 1960s with compositions by The Moody Blues, The Beatles and The Bee Gees, as well as the ever-popular Rhythm of Life which was a hit from Cy Coleman’s musical Sweet Charity.

Twenty-two-year-old Suzy Schwartz, a pupil of Side by Side since 2012, is our Am Dram Star of the Week. Suzy talks about her experiences with the group.

“I have got loads of friends and I love the atmosphere there,” she says.

Suzy is playing the role of Rosalind in the play. What’s the character like? “She is quite level-headed but speaks her mind,” says Suzy.

Rosalind is disguised as a boy for part of the play, offering Suzy the chance to expand her role. “She’s banished from the house, where she was engaged as a playmate for Celia, because her father has also been banished by his brother,” says Suzy. “So, she goes into hiding.”

So, the storyline is very similar to the original, complete with love interest for Rosalind. “She sees Orlando and she is like OK I like this guy,” laughs Suzy. “She falls in love with him.”

This is a big role for Suzy. Were there a lot of lines to learn? “Yes, I get the script and I learn them straight away. I look through them and scan them and then my memory just takes it all in,” she says.

“I don’t sing as part of my group, but I am having lessons. The dances in the play are linked in with the storyline,” Suzy says.

Every other year the group take their production to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is quite an achievement.

“We stay in a university with our carers and crew,” Suzy says, “My mum and my brother Tom come too. Tom is a stagehand.”

We all have a dream role, and what would be Suzy’s? “That’s quite difficult,” she says. “But if I could be anyone, it would have to be Matilda.”

l As We Like It is on at Stourbridge Town Hall, June 20-23. For tickets call 01384 395350 or visit www.sbstcs.org