Fiddler on the Roof, Greensward, Frinton, Until Sunday, August 19. 01255 676656.

FRINTON Summer Theatre’s most ambitious challenge yet – staging a full-scale musical in a tent on the town’s hallowed Greensward – has proved to be a tremendous success.

Fiddler on the Roof, by Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, is one of the great works of the American musical theatre and it was a captivating to experience it in such surroundings.

Producer Clive Brill and director Ed Max deserve many plaudits for putting on a performance of this scale – the first of its kind for Frinton.

Fiddler on the Roof is a moving story of love, faith and family, which follows Tevye the milkman as he struggles to come to terms with the modern world of 1905, while holding on to his Jewish traditions.

For me, the highlights of the musical were the better-known numbers, including If I were a Rich Man and Matchmaker, the latter of which was wonderfully performed by Eleanor Toms (Tzeitel), Leah Penston (Hodel) and Trebecca Ferrin (Chaba).

But it was Dougal Lee, as the charismatic Tevye, who seamlessly stitched the show together with a commanding performance and perfectly-delivered dry humour.

With as many as 14 people on stage at the same time, along with puppets, credit goes to the stage manager and production team, as well as musical director Michael Webborn, for such a flawless production.

A special mention also goes to Tendring Technology College student Poppy Daniels and Olivia Max, who played Tevye’s youngest daughters, who won their parts at an auditions in July.

They fitted perfectly into such a professional show and we should look forward to seeing more of them in the future.

To perform a full-scale musical on the Greensward was a brave choice, but let’s hope this is first of many such adventures for Frinton Summer Theatre.

JAMES DWAN