JOSHUA Goodman is working on a new project, The Beggars Of York, after leaving his four-year post as co-artistic director of Upstage Centre Youth Theatre in York.

"It's a new play that tells the stories of homeless people in York with text by the poet Don Walls, whose son Peter was homeless for 30 years in the city," says Joshua. "Don has written a verse play based on his experiences, and we'll be putting it on in the York Theatre Royal Studio in July as part of the TakeOver festival."

The director already has held a project launch earlier this month with a read-through of the play, a discussion and information on a crowdfunding scheme to support the production.

"Homelessness is such a topical concern, and Peter's story is one that should be told. He lived on the streets of York for years, struggling through those years with schizophrenia and addiction, but Pete was a poet and a busker too," says Joshua.

"Bootham Bar and Finkle Street were his prime spots, but there was a long-running rift with the police, and one of the key premises of this play is that Peter would say he was busking and the police would say he was begging. As a theatre director, that made me want to look at how there could be those differing perceptions."

Peter died in 2012, prompting Don Walls to tell his story. "As much as anything, this play is a homage to Peter, but I also feel it's posthumously about his struggle to have his voice heard at last," says Joshua. "Don is aware that through his position as a well-respected poet in York, he could give voice to things that were ignored before, and I have to say the play is staggeringly beautiful."