A YOUNG Bolton actor who cut his teeth with the Octagon's renowned youth programme Activ8, will make his professional stage debut at the theatre on Thursday.

Oliver Lee, who plays Jamie in the production of Beautiful Thing, has already impressed audiences at Activ8 shows with his seemingly effortless grasp of the physical and mental interplay involved in a stage presence. Only just 19, his portraits show immense maturity of vision, ranging from the physical caricature of Orwell's Animal Farm to the understated sensuousness of Sophie Treadwell's dark, cerebral play Machinal.

Yet he remains extremely levelheaded about his career and its origins.

"I wanted to act because it was something I could do, when I wasn't much good at other things," he said. "I always enjoyed the feeling of being able to study a role and just get on and do it." It is that disingenuous view of his own talents, coupled with a cold-eyed realisation of the nature of the industry that should see Oliver do well.

Beautiful Thing, Jonathan Harvey's play about family, friends and first love, is set on a housing estate in Manchester during one long, hot British summer. Bored teenagers Jamie, Ste and their friend Leah waste endless hours kicking their heels around the tower block, dreaming of better things.

Jamie's mother's antics with her younger boyfriend are irritating Jamie, while his next-door neighbour Ste is finding it hard to cope with a tough family secret. Meanwhile, Leah escapes her own mundane world in the solace of her music idol, Mama Cass. As family tensions look set to explode, Jamie and Ste's bond gets closer and, when they reveal that they are more than just friends, it turns everyone's life around.

Beautiful Thing is a production by the Yorkshire based touring Pilot Theatre company and runs from March 10 until April 2. Box office 01204 520661