ABRAND new Essex theatre company stages its first ever production this week.

Elite Productions launches with the popular musical A Slice of Saturday Night.

Set in a dance hall during the Sixties, the show charts the anxious learning curve involved in being a teenager at the cusp of the Beatles era, and the start of a more permissive society.

Elite Productions was set up by theatre professional Elliot Clark.

Elliot, 30, from Southend, says: “The purpose was to inject some new life into the local theatre scene and give some brilliant performers the chance to show what they can do on stage.”

Elliot is a familiar face in local amdram productions for many years.

Elliot has spent the last five years as theatre manager for the London production of Agatha Christie’s the Mousetrap, the longest running play in theatre history.

He says: “It was a great job, but I wanted to move on and be involved in production.”

Elliot now plans to work as a freelance theatre manager in between stints for Elite.

As director of A Slice of Saturday Night, Elliot has acquired the services of the distinguished Leigh-based director Sallie Warrington.

Elliot adds: “The cast of Saturday Night has been hand-picked by myself and Sallie from the pool of professional and semi-pro talent in the area, many of them have known to us for a long time.

“We were spoilt for choice.”