Curtain up on new book House Full! detailing 30 years of Falkirk Children's Theatre

And who better to write down all those memories than Craig Murray: a 13 year old Buttons in the first production of Cinderella, before going on to write the scripts for 22 pantos, then managing the operation for 16 years.

House Full!: The amazing story of Falkirk Children’s Theatre 1970-2000 takes a look back at how the bold project to bring together a theatre company for children aged eight to 15 came about against a challenging backdrop of council funding.

From the early days when 500 children applied to be part of the show at Falkirk Town Hall to the pantomime being watched by millions when it became a regular feature of STV viewing on January 1, all are captured in the book.

Packed with names and photographs from the 30 years, Craig, who grew up in Larbert, brings the story to life with anecdotes of all the fun as youngsters took to the stage, but there is also lots of details of how those behind the scenes involved with the organising had to work to ensure there was continued support for the project.

Craig’s book was unveiled recently at an event in Falkirk’s Behind the Wall attended by many of those who had been cast and crew over the decades.

He detailed how the book was 15 months in the writing and how wife Louise, herself a former Children’s Theatre member, encouraged him to keep going to tell the story of such a unique theatrical group.

Craig also paid tribute to the man sitting in the front row on the night without whom the project would never have got off the ground and hundreds of children would have missed out on an opportunity to perform under the spotlight.

David Cunningham, now 91, was Falkirk Town Council’s entertainment officer who realised that to have any hope of having audiences for years to come watching productions at local venues, you needed to capture them young and what better way to do it than with their own theatre company.

His enthusiasm and charm saw the project given approval and the launch of Falkirk Children’s Theatre with a council budget of £2000, around £40,000 in today’s money, took place.

But Craig admits in his book that no-one ever envisaged how successful it would be – nor how many careers it would launch with former members going on to have careers in the entertainment industry, appearing everywhere from London’s West End to New York’s Broadway.

Indeed, one of those is Forbes Masson, a former member who is now an associate artist with The Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Scotland, as well as one half of comedy duo Victor and Barry, and who provided the foreword for the book

He writes: "Craig’s love and care for the job, the company, the kids and his hometown, his great comic and narrative skill as scriptwriter and performer, his uplifting positivity, extreme passion and tireless dedication to his craft all shine through in this entertaining, informative and revealing book.

"Go behind the scenes of Scotland’s beloved and sorely-missed children’s theatre where so many Falkirk children, in days gone by, had such fantastic fun, made lasting memories, met lifetime pals, gained confidence, and for some, like me, were helped on their first few steps on the road to living their dream life in the arts."

Although Forbes was unable to attend in person – he’s busy rehearsing for The Tempest in London's West End next month where he will appear with award-winning superstar Sigourney Weaver – he did send a video message, wishing Craig good luck, as did TV presenters Debbie Greenwood and Paul Coia.

Of course, it couldn’t be a Children’s Theatre event without some audience participation as everyone stepped back in time to recreate one of the comedy numbers, before a rousing rendition – complete with dance moves – for Holly Jolly Christmas, which always brought the curtain down on the pantomimes.

House Full! is currently on sale at Waterstones in Falkirk.