You will have to look very closely at this picture to identify anyone - as you can see, they are all in disguise.

It was a Shakespeare production the like of which no-one had probably seen before.

Romeo and Juliet had clearly come a long way since William Shakespeare put pen to paper four centuries ago.

Read again: Cornmarket Greggs closed due to potential food hygiene issues

The traditional story of the two star-crossed lovers had moved generations of theatre goers throughout Britain and many parts of the world.

But a new and somewhat bizarre adaptation of the play emerged at the Pegasus Youth Theatre in East Oxford in 1985.

Under the direction of the mime company Theatre de Complicite, pupils from Bishop Kirk School in North Oxford and Temple Cowley School had merged to create their own brand of Shakespeare.

It was apparently well received by the audience, even from Shakespeare devotees, with loud applause as the curtain came down.

Pegasus began as the Oxford Youth Theatre working in the old school meals service building in Magdalen Road.

Read again: Oxford's terrible parking revealed

As its publicity material states, “it has been creating theatre for, by and with young people in the heart of East Oxford for more than 50 years”.

It outgrew its original breeze block building and now boasts a striking new purpose-built venue which opened in 2010.

Last year Pegasus Theatre received a £2,000 funding boost to help it support two of its long-standing projects.

Read more: Amazing photos show sport in Oxfordshire

The money was donated by Dominvs Group, a property development group, which pledged the money to help the theatre support its Looking Forward and Acting Out projects. About £500 of the donation was put towards the theatre’s Big Give Christmas Challenge.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF