Toad careers across stage in his motor car, his face painted green, as 12-year-old girls with tails hanging from their backs get into character as mice.

It can only be a performance of The Adventures of Mr Toad, based on The Wind in the Willows, which this year is celebrating 100 years since it was first published, enabling Kenneth Grahame to retire from his job as a bank clerk and enjoy simply messing about in boats by the River Thames.

On stage at the Redgrave Theatre in Clifton, 14-year-old Casey Lloyd from Coombe Dingle is Toad and he is revelling playing the lead role in the production.

"I came to theatre from a young age," Casey said. "I love it. I used to do a lot of singing but then I got into theatre more.

"I love having the thrills backstage when you're about to come on, and then the nerves disappearing when you say your first line and the audience is laughing and joking around.

"When I look at the audience, I get such a buzz of energy. It's like stepping out onto the pitch at Wembley Stadium."

Casey is a member of Bristol Amateur Operatic Society (BAOS), one of many amateur dramatic groups in the city but the only one to have performed in three different centuries, the 19th, 20th and 21st.

BAOS have a senior and junior section, who both rehearse at the Newman Hall, Westbury-on-Trym.

The senior section, with performers aged from 16, perform at least two shows a year, a summer show and a main production at the Victoria Rooms in Clifton.

The junior section, the youngest members of which are 10, also perform two shows a year with their main productions performed at the Redgrave Theatre.

The Adventures of Mr Toad is typical of a BAOS junior show, with a cast of 25 children from across Bristol appearing on stage.

While the cast have been rehearsing for several months, the musical has been in the planning stage for much longer with a large team of adults working behind the scenes to ensure that everything is all right on the night.

Everything might not have been all right on the night had Stew Osgood not taken on the role of director four weeks ago when original director Jeremy Batt moved to London to begin a performing arts course.

Stew, 19, who studies acting at Filton College, said that the best thing about working with the young performers is seeing them all grow in confidence.

"They are so much more confident now than when I first met them," Stew says. "When I first turned up they were not enjoying themselves on stage, but now they are enjoying themselves and being themselves.

"At its very beginning, theatre was about confidence and that's what it's still about.

"I used to be the shyest kid in my school until I started doing drama and then I became the school clown. Theatre puts a smile on people's faces."

Since putting on its first show, The Sorcerer, in 1894, BAOS have performed at least one show every year, apart from short breaks due to the two world wars. Next year, the senior section will be performing Crazy For You at the Victoria Rooms.

Rehearsals for this show will begin in October, but the first meeting for people who want to take part will be next week where members old and new can hear its music and songs and discuss the show with the production team.

Ten-year-old Jo Cowley from Sea Mills might one day appear in a senior production for BAOS, but he is now simply happy to be appearing on stage in his first junior show.

The Sea Mills Junior School pupil, who was persuaded to audition for The Wind in the Willows by his friend Casey, said: "I just really enjoy it and I have made new friends."

For Georgie King who is playing Mole, this is the first production where she has a main part. She has appeared in several pantomimes but has never had a lead role.

"This is very exciting for me," said Georgie, 13, who lives in Westbury-on-Trym and goes to Red Maids.

"I love the buzz that I get from being on stage. It's exhilarating. I just love acting and singing and I have always done it. I feel nervous backstage but when I'm on stage and in character the nerves disappear."

"The best thing about being here is the chance to perform in this theatre, meeting new people and making new friends."

The Adventures of Mr Toad is being performed at the Redgrave Theatre, Percival Road, Clifton until Saturday. Performances start at 7.30pm and there is also a Saturday matinee at 2pm.Tickets cost £7.50 or £10 and be purchased on the day of the performance. For more information, telephone 0117 962 2588.