Strictly star Georgia May Foote and Downton Abbey's Matt Barber head the cast in Breakfast at Tiffany's at Norwich Theatre Royal.

The bright lights of New York have a moth-like attraction to those who want to reinvent themselves.

Fred is there following a well-worn path trodden by many writers through the years. His fellow drifter, neighbour and mysterious good time girl Holly Golightly, on the other hand...well, he never really knows. But more than a decade on, the memory of those heady, emotionally charged months in 1944 still haunts him.

And so the stage is set for Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday.

Directed by Nikolai Foster, Holly on stage is closer to Truman Capote's original incarnation, rather than Audrey Hepburn's iconic Givenchy-and-tiaras performance.

And Georgia May Foote's turn has plenty of sparkle.

Known for her roles in Grange Hill and Coronation Street, followed by a spin around the Strictly ballroom, this is Georgia's theatrical debut. And she makes the transition from soap to stage admirably.

On the run from her past and the 'mean reds', Holly is New York's contradictions – the glamour juxtaposed with the seedy underworld – personified.

And Richard Greenberg's adaptation gives Georgia a chance to shine, especially when she performs two songs, which poignantly reveal Holly's hopes and dreams – and a lovely singing voice.

Matt Barber, best-known for playing Atticus Aldridge in Downton Abbey, plays Fred, giving a compelling and assured performance as a man on the edge in a city on the edge as he tells the story in a flashback more bourbon-tinted than rose-tinted.

However they were both in danger of getting upstaged by a feline co-star.

At first glance it wasn't clear whether Bob the cat was real or not – until he lept off a sofa and straight out of a window in a move that was nothing short of purr-fection.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday. Box office: 01603 630000/ www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk