A TALENTED teenage trio will be presenting a play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe .Former Leiston High School pupils John Rolph, 19, of Sternfield, near Saxmundham, Cara Smith, 19, of Kelsale, and David Oldfield, 18, of Yoxford, are busy rehearsing Wrong Direction, a romantic comedy written and directed by John.

A TALENTED teenage trio will be presenting a play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe .

Former Leiston High School pupils John Rolph, 19, of Sternfield, near Saxmundham, Cara Smith, 19, of Kelsale, and David Oldfield, 18, of Yoxford, are busy rehearsing Wrong Direction, a romantic comedy written and directed by John.

It will be the trio's first visit to the high-profile festival and their first time performing there.

The play is about a bank clerk Tom and his relationship with Marie, a newly qualified lawyer. The couple is played by David and Cara, and the action takes place at a bus stop.

The team, who have formed their own production company called Down Stage Centre, will be holding a series of Suffolk previews later this month .

The three friends were at Saxmundham Middle School together, performing in productions from the age of around ten.

They produced Alan Ayckbourn's Comic Potential and performed it at Leiston High last year.

"The success of that and the feedback from that led us to think of another project. Our original idea was to take a play and perform it at venues around Suffolk," said John.

They then got the idea that they could take it up to the Fringe.

"We thought, let's go for this. I was in the process of writing something at the time."

Feedback on the script from friends, former teachers and people in the theatre has been positive, he said.

They start rehearsals in earnest this week . They will be thrilled if their efforts are noticed at the festival but their main aim is to enjoy themselves and watch other performers.

"Ultimately, we are doing it for the enjoyment of it because we love acting, we love the theatre," said John.

Cara admitted she was "incredibly nervous", but David said he was "more excited than nervous" at the prospect of performing at Edinburgh.

"It should be fantastic," he said.

John, now in his gap year, plans to study drama at Bristol University, while Cara is also due to start on one of two drama courses next term. David is heading for Cambridge University to study law.

Suffolk previews of Wrong Direction take place at the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh (box office 01728 687110) on July 18, the Angel Theatre, Rendlesham (box office 01394 420272) on July 24 and New Cut Arts Centre, Halesworth (box office 01986 873840) on July 26. All performances start at 7.30pm and tickets cost £5.

The Edinburgh Festival performances take place from August 4 to 10 at 4.15pm at Greyfriars Kirk House, 86 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh (box office 0131 225 6575). Tickets cost £6 or £5 concessions.