When Jane and her mother land in Bradford, with just the few bags of clothes they could grab while doing a runner from their previous home, life looks pretty grim.

Fed-up with her single mother's chaotic lifestyle, Jane seeks solace in the arms of local lad Dini. And when she gets a job at a cinema, she's swept up into the fantasy world of Bollywood.

Bollywood Jane was originally set in Leicester but writer Amanda Whittington changed the location to Bradford for the play's run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

The production blends drama with glamorous Bollywood song-and-dance sequences performed by a community choir. Some of the dancers were picked from auditions held in Bradford.

The play's run is part of the fringe festival accompanying the International Indian Film Academy awards, known as the Bollywood Oscars, taking place across Yorkshire next month.

"It's been great to re-visit the play and set it in Bradford," says Amanda. "As a writer I'm always looking for new opportunities, and it transfers well to Bradford."

She describes the play as "A Taste of Honey meets The Wizard of Oz" and says it carries an uplifting message about family life and love.

"It's gritty kitchen sink drama - inspired by the films I loved as a child - crossed with the spectacle of Bollywood," she says. "Bollywood has very epic stories and human dramas. The films embody over-the-top glamour but they're also about the simplicity of family life and friendship. They have a truthfulness that I think Hollywood has lost.

"The relationship between Jane and her mother, Kate, is very strained. Kate had Jane was she was young - she's still only in her 30s and Jane is 16 - and there are unresolved issues between them. Jane's had an insecure, turbulent life and resents Kate for it. There's a lot of love there, but they can't connect.

"Jane is a typical 16-year-old, she's rebellious and Kate is scared of her making the same mistakes that she made.

"Dini is the first person who recognises that Jane is special, he leads her into the world of Bollywood where families' love lasts forever. Bollywood is all about traditional family values - something Jane's never known."

The Bollywood sequences are played out in sequins and saris, representing the glamorous world Jane sees on screen. "It's like the Land of Oz," says Amanda. "Jane and Dini join in with the dancing, they take centre stage like the Bollywood king and queen. They lose themselves in the romance of it all.

"It causes conflict at home; Kate doesn't really know what Bollywood is, she wants Jane to get a proper job, with a uniform, in a supermarket."

Amanda says this production is the biggest so far, with 40 dancers appearing on stage alongside the cast. "It wasn't on such a big scale when it ran in Leicester," she says. "The dancers, light and colour flood the stage, it looks incredible.

"I'd seen Bollywood films and thought This is so theatrical, happy and uplifting.' It seemed perfect for the stage.

"It's a very uplifting night at the theatre, there's a real sense of joy in it. Things don't turn out exactly as you'd expect, but they turn out the way they should."

Amanda hopes the play will attract a multi-cultural audience. "The songs in the play are massive Bollywood numbers which Asian audiences will recognise, they'll get to see them performed on stage for the first time. The audiences in Leicester were 50/50 Asian and white and the Bollywood numbers went down really well with everyone. For white audiences, it offers something new. You can't watch a Bollywood sequence without feeling happy and energised."

Twenty-year-old Leeds actress Nichola Burley makes her stage debut in Bollywood Jane, taking the lead role.

The 40-strong community choir was picked from auditions held earlier this year at the Alhambra Studio and the Playhouse. Bollywood choreographer Zoobin Surty is putting them through their paces.

Usman Ishaq, 19, from Lidget Green was one of the dancers chosen. "I'd done some Bollywood dancing before, at classes in Bradford," says the trainee joiner. "We're rehearsing with the cast at the moment, it's hard work but it's going well. It's great to be performing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, I've been here before but I can't believe I'm going to be on stage.

"The play is joyful and uplifting. The dance sequences bring it to life, we're wearing bright costumes and gold shoes. It's going to look amazing."

The three others community cast members from Bradford are: dance student Louise Clarke, 20; student Shakeel Hussain, 16; and 16-year-old beauty therapy student Georgina Settle.

Amanda hopes the buzz surrounding the Bollywood Oscars will rub on her play. She's no stranger to staging dramas alongside real-life events. Her play Ladies Day, about a group of women from a fish-packing factory who go to Ascot, ran while Ascot was at York in 2005 and now she's written a sequel, Ladies Day Down Under. "It follows on from one of the women winning some money on a race at Ascot," says Amanda. "They go to Australia with the winnings. I've never written a sequel before, it worked really well."

Nottingham-born Amanda got her break writing for the East Midlands-based New Perspectives Theatre Company and says there are more opportunities for new writers now. "It's better now than when I started," she says. "West Yorkshire Playhouse has a particularly structured approach, it's fantastic that it has the confidence and belief in new writers to present their work on stages like this."

Bollywood Jane runs at the West Yorkshire Playhouse from June 2-27. For tickets ring (0113) 213 7700.