The motto above the school stage says: “Aim high and hold the aim.” It was good enough for Lieutenant William McMaster Murdoch, the first officer on the fated Titanic, when he was a pupil here, and now it’s serving as inspiration for a new generation of Dalbeattie High School students as they rehearse for the school play. But these are no ordinary rehearsals and this is no ordinary school play.

Gathered in the school hall are not just jeans and T-shirt-wearing teenagers, but a silver-haired group of fifty- and sixty-somethings and a team of creative-looking adults.

The older group are the Birchvale Players, the town’s long-standing amateur dramatics troupe and the others are from Tag, the Glasgow theatre company which has been drafted in to add a professional sheen to a production of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Visit. The play is a dark comedy about a wealthy woman who enacts revenge on her unfaithful childhood sweetheart.

“I’ve never been involved in anything quite like it,” says Guy Hollands, Tag’s artistic director. “A collaboration between a professional arts organisation, a local authority, a school and a local amateur dramatics company is a special kind of thing. ”

With support from the Creative Education Arts Team of Dumfries and Galloway Council, the production follows workshop sessions and drama classes which Tag has led over the past year. For this final stage, the company has brought in a designer, stage manager, assistant director and marketing tutor to pass on professional skills to the children and the amateur dramatics group.

The school band strikes up a tune under the guidance of Matilda Brown, a composer from the Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow. It sounds surprisingly polished.

Sitting together on one side of the hall are Ruth Athron, Pam Winter and Derek McCartney, of the Birchvale Players. They’re used to doing everything themselves, from finding the costumes to selling the tickets. You would expect they’d find it a welcome break to have the professionals do the donkey work for them but, on the contrary, the loss of power is making them anxious.

“It’s not so stressful because we’re not doing any of the technical side,” says Winter.

“But it’s also quite worrying because we’re not in control.”

Everyone seems to be enjoying the novelty of the experience, and the Birchvale Players are hopeful that the show could help boost their numbers. Dalbeattie is a small place, young people tend to move away in search of work and the club’s membership is in decline. They’ve cancelled their annual pantomime in order to do The Visit, but in truth they weren’t certain of getting enough actors in the first place. The younger generation at the school could be their lifeline.

“Some of the youngsters are very good,” says Winter, eyeing up potential new members.

The relationship with the Birchvale Players is one that teacher Simon Mein is keen to develop. There hasn’t been a school show here for seven years and Tag’s arrival has engaged staff and pupils alike. Over a quarter of the 370 pupils at the small school are involved in some way, whether it be designing the poster, painting the set or appearing in the performance.

“There are big benefits that we can see already,” he says. “We’ve had some real surprises from the kids who’ve signed up for the show. There are kids who we would have predicted would get involved, but there are also kids we would never have expected to be here.” He cites the case of one student whose school work has been transformed. “It coincides exactly with when he started doing drama,” he says.

The students are just as enthusiastic. Morwenna Darwell, 15, has acted with Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow and in local community shows, but this experience, she feels, is special. “I’ve never worked with a proper director, it’s always been parents who’ve stepped in,” she says. “It’s exciting.”

Back in the hall, Hollands is marshalling his actors. He says: “People look at me strangely when I tell them I’m directing a school play, but I love it. It’s an incredibly worthwhile thing to do. Personally, I get a lot of satisfaction from it and, professionally, we’re using our skills in a way that is sustainable: all this is being passed on to the teachers and the Birchvale Players.”

The Visit, Dalbeattie High School, December 14-16

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