TRANENT theatre group Centre Stage gave audiences a blast from the past last week as they performed favourite routines from the group’s 45-year history.

With a cast of about 80 working to put on two shows every year in the town, children and adults got involved in a range of roles including costuming and set design, as well as performing on the stage.

Centre Stage’s 2024 summer show took place at the Loch Centre in Tranent at the end of last week, dazzling audiences across three nights.

The cast performed routines from across the 45 years of productions, including from Centre Stage’s very first show in 1979.

The audience enjoyed old hits such as Go West, One Singular Sensation and Copacabana.

Mags Foster, the group’s secretary, was part of the on-stage cast as a teenager and now works behind the scenes to get these shows ready for the stage.

She said: “People don’t know how many it takes to put on a show like this, there’s 10 of us here that runs it.

“Isa Thomson started it back in 1979 and is still involved, which is amazing, she’s 77 now. She is a bit of a Centre Stage and Tranent legend.

“The group has been a part of the Tranent community for all these years. Our rehearsals only cost £5 because we want to make sure that every kid has an opportunity to get involved.

“The youngest are children aged three to five, then at the moment it goes up to about age 70.”

Mags praised the performances of the cast and was thrilled with the success of the shows.

“Feedback has been amazing and that is what makes the team happy," she said.

“It’s about the audience leaving on a high and feeling entertained.

"We had a standing ovation each night after the finale – it was really flamboyant, a big bang finish.”