VISITORS to the panto at Chipping Norton Theatre are traditionally encouraged to respond to the action with boos, cheers and cries of "He's behind you!"

But a group of five young people from west Oxfordshire have been inspired to respond to this year's production of Robinson Crusoe and the Pirate Queen in a rather more creative way – by coming up with an exhibition of their own art, which is on show at the theatre.

The project, run by AYYO Contemporary Art at Charlbury in partnership with The Theatre Chipping Norton has seen the group making eye-catching creations based on the salty tale of the shipwrecked sailor.

The show features work by illustrator Luke Daniels from Bampton; artist Will Harvey from Spelsbury, and musician Alain Phillips, illustrator Amy Mattingley and animator Harry Cann, all from Witney – all of whom were mentored by artists, illustrators and publishers, passing on tips on how to carve out a career in art.

AYYO Creative Director Clare Carswell, said: "Having mentored two local young artists as studio interns in the last three years, I have learned that there are many other talented arts graduates who return to the county with their degrees but may not then find it easy to launch their career as creative professionals.

"There are far fewer opportunities in rural areas than there are in the city for emerging artists to show their art, or for the networking that is vital to progressing a career in the arts, and many of these talented young people are doing non-arts related jobs and can lose heart that they will get to use their education.

"With support and encouragement from experienced arts professionals and the chance to take up real world opportunities, they can gain confidence and go on to make a real contribution to society as the talented and creative people that they are.

"Having taught in Further and Higher education for many years, it is a pleasure to now be using my lovely studio at Charlbury as a hub for this project and I plan for 2017 to make funding applications in order to develop the project so that I can offer similar opportunities to more young arts graduates in the county.”

Artist, Mr Daniels said: “I am very happy and excited to be working on this project.

"It has been a chance to collaborate with other young artists and share ideas with other people in the same stage of their career as me. I have learned a lot about working on a professional group project and all that is involved in working as a team to meet deadlines.”

Fellow creative Mr Phillips said: “I’ve enjoyed combining elements of scoring for media with more experimental forms of composition, and challenging myself to write in styles I hadn’t attempted before.

"I have also enjoyed meeting with the visual artists and forming new ideas based on their works.”

The exhibition, High Seas and Palm Trees, is on at the gallery at The Theatre Chipping Norton, until Tuesday, December 13.

There is a Meet the Artist event at the gallery this Sunday, in which visitors can meet the team along with the cast of the panto.

For more on AYYO, go to ayyo-art.com