TWO young men who turned down the chance of going to university and set up their own theatre group instead believe they made the right decision.
Luke Gilfedder, 19, from Padgate and Angus McAlister, 18, from Wilmslow hit on the idea after meeting at school.
They teamed up with a group of other like-minded youngsters from the Warrington and Cheshire area to form Finn Youth Productions – and already, after little more than a year are looking back on a string of successes.
Luke – the nephew of former Warrington RL player Laurie Gilfedder – 
directs the group’s productions and writes his own original material.
He met another leading member of the group, Greg O’Hara, 19, when they were both pupils at St Peter’s RC Primary School, Woolston.
Later he met up with Angus when they were both at Manchester Grammar School – and it was then that the idea for Finn Youth Productions was born.
But Luke and Greg laid the foundations even earlier. While still at primary school they were making video productions around the Warrington area.
The group was created after Luke and Angus decided against offers of going to drama school and University College, London
Their first show was “Billy Liar” at Wilmslow Parish Hall but since then they have secured a base at Pownall Hall Theatre, Wilmslow where their second play – Graham Greene’s “The Living Room” was staged.
But perhaps their biggest success was to be invited to perform at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, where they staged Luke’s original script “That’s Jam.”
Words of encouragement and advice have come from Sir Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre and of acclaimed films such as “The Crucible” and “The Madness of King George” who Luke met in London.
Luke has also had a landmark solo success with his original play “Trash” being performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre at Covent Garden shortly before Christmas – earning him a place among the youngest-ever playwrights to earn a production in the West End.
Currently Finn Youth Productions are rehearsing for a production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Man of Destiny” at Manchester Grammar School in April – a play they have already presented once at Stockport’s Garrick Theatre.
So far, the group’s activities in Warrington have been confined to rehearsals at the Thames Board Mills club at Alford Hall.
Luke said: “We would love to put on a play in Warrington, but there are so few venues. But hopefully we will find somewhere suitable soon.”
Pictures: Left: Luke Gilfedder, Right: Finn Youth Productions in action
