Gráinne Faller finds out how students around the country have fared on - and behind - the stage

It's not often that you see a roomful of males in make-up. Today, though, all the men around, with the exception of just a few, are caked in foundation and eyeshadow. One is dressed as a particularly buxom woman, complete with a rather fetching wig. Another seems to resemble a cat. By the time a donkey appears, the make-up doesn't seem so strange after all.

We are here for the opening matinee of Puss 'n Boots, a pantomime being staged by Sandford Park School, in Dublin, and the hall is full of expectation. Scores of primary-school children are filing in; some point when they see the forest scene on the stage backdrop.

Each year the boys of Sandford Park team up with the girls of nearby Alexandra College for their Christmas production. This time Susan Sweeney-McDowell has the lead female role, of Princess Gwen. "I've done this kind of thing before," she says. "But I don't really like singing on my own, so I'm a bit nervous about that."

Munching a bread roll, Shane Buckley looks very relaxed even though he is just about to tread the boards. He plays Arthur, the third Miller son. "I get the girl in the end," he says. No wonder he's so relaxed.

The school always stages a production of some sort, but, considering that last year it did John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, a pantomime is something of a departure. "I've never been involved in anything this big," says Ros Salley, who plays the king. "Panto is great, but you have to unlearn everything that you learned about stage acting."

Carl Shepard, who wrote the script for Puss 'n Boots over the summer, is about to see the work of the past few months come together. "The excitement is unbelievable," he says.

That thrill is palpable weeks before a production goes ahead - a period when the undiscovered talent always makes for interesting auditions. When I spoke to him, James Roche was preparing for his part in Athlone Community College's production of Guys and Dolls.

"I had never done anything like this before," he says, "We auditioned in May, and in September there was another audition, to whittle down the list." At first he found it difficult not only to learn his lines but also to work out how to deliver them. His teachers helped. "They tell you how to say the lines and when to expect laughter," he says.

Another Guys and Dolls performer certainly sounds keyed up. "I cannot wait," says Anita Feeley, who has been helping out with costumes, among other things. "When you look at a play you don't think of half of the stuff that is actually done," she says. "Nobody sees the people putting on and taking off the sets, for example."

Anita is an old hand: she was also involved in her school's production of The Sound of Music. "It's such craic," she says. "What you don't think about is the amount of new friends you make. You live, eat and breathe with them, so you get to know people really well."

Back in the Sandford Park hall, the pantomime is under way with a drum roll. A dramatic Aaron Heffernan struts across the stage as Puss, warming up the audience by telling them to shout: "Hello, Puss!" Anarchy reigns, not least because the king is clearly not in full control of his faculties. They plunder and adapt all manner of music, from Abba to Bonnie Tyler, even going so far as spoofing James Blunt's You're Beautiful. The original script means the whole thing is chock-full of modern references. No prizes for guessing what a barrel of oil belonging to the Miller son is all about.

The transition-year students at St Leo's College, in Carlow, are no strangers to the time and commitment that such a project requires. Ensuring the success of their production of My Fair Lady took a lot of work. The students began by rehearsing during school hours, but towards the end they needed to use weekends as well.

And no matter how prepared they were, nothing was going to scupper the jitters. Majella Quinn, who played Eliza Doolittle, says: "It was really nerve-racking. Everyone was nervous on the first night, and it was chaotic backstage, but after that people grew into their characters."

Over the dress rehearsal and the three full performances that followed, the students performed to 2,000 people. "The last night was brilliant," says Amy Walsh, who played Alfred P Doolittle - her first theatrical experience. "The audience just got better and better."

After the curtain goes down and the lights fade, the make-up is washed off and the sequins are put back in the wardrobe, how do the stars cope? "Getting back to classes was a shock," says Amy. "Some of the teachers barely recognised us," says Majella. "It was a bit of an anticlimax - such a change when you're used to rehearsing every day."

Almost everyone in the St Leo's transition year was involved, and the backstage effort was enormous. "I couldn't believe it when it was over," says Louise Osbourne, who led the team of set painters that designed and created the backdrops for the production. "It was really rewarding to see it on the stage.The backstage people can be almost forgotten, but really it was almost like having a lead role, with the amount of time we put into it."

It certainly makes an impression on everyone involved. "There's such a huge difference in the actors," says Carl Shepard, who produced and directed Puss 'n Boots as well as writing it. "They come on so much. I get such a kick out of that. That's why I do it from year to year."

"I learned so much about how it is to work with a script," says Amy. "Working with so many people teaches you a lot as well." "It's such a confidence builder," says Majella, her co-star. Their teacher Mairéad Breen agrees. "I think a real maturing takes place. It's a really positive experience and certainly a highlight of the year."

It can even inspire some to further heights. Anita Feeley of Athlone Community College has been bitten by the bug. "I definitely want to continue with this sort of thing when I finish school," she says. "I love it. I live it."

On the stage at Sandford Park School, the tension is mounting as Puss and Arthur Miller prepare to make their way to the evil count's castle. The young audience is transfixed. As the lights come up for the interval, the actors have a few minutes to gather themselves, no doubt buoyed up by the applause ringing in their ears.