HARRY Potter and the Cursed Child star Theo Ancient (Albus Potter) is starring in The Shy Manifesto at Windsor Old Court as the national tour arrives in town.

The Shy Manifesto is a bittersweet coming-ofage comedy drama about a shy boy who has had enough of constantly being told to come out of his shell.

Callum, 17, is proud to be shy and he thinks you should be too, because what this noisy, crazy world really needs right now is some more self restraint.

Callum delivers his manifesto, exploring adolescence, isolation, self-loathing and sexuality, and encourages his audience of radical shy comrades to finally rise up and inherit the earth.

However, will memories of the previous night’s drunken escapades at a classmate’s end-of-term party upend the fragile identity he has created for himself?

Paradoxically, Ancient, who stars in this oneman show about introversion and limelight dodging, recently played Potter in arguably the most high profile play in the world.

“It’s a job like no other,” he says of stepping into JK Rowling’s magicalcreation.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. There was so much excitement and anticipation in the theatre. I would stand backstage 10 minutes before the start and just listen to the audience. You could feel their excitement. And it seems that no matter where you go, if you say you’re a part of Harry Potter, people light up!”

Producers Joe C Brown and Anthony Hollis said: “Shyness is one of those paradoxical things – so many people experience it, and yet each sufferer feels uniquely alone.

“The Shy Manifesto takes this experience as its central subject, something which has rarely been explored in drama.”

The Shy Manifesto plays at Old Court, St Leonards Road, Windsor, February 5. Box office: 01753 743579 orwww.oldcourt.org