YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre's 14 to 16-year-old groups will present three plays based on different themes of community from April 7 to 9.

The Trojan Women, The Holding Place and This Changes Everything will be performed at York St John University's Theatre 1 ahead of the Theatre Royal’s reopening on April 22, with two of the three plays being staged each night.

Led by directors Paula Clark, Matt Harper and Kate Plumb respectively, the three casts have explored this topical subject matter, each interpreting it in a differing way.

In an adaptation of a classic Greek tragedy, The Trojan Women tells the story of the fallen city of Troy. Defeated by the Greeks, the Trojans are all dead, except for the women who wait on the beach ready to be shipped to their impending fate. Based on Homer’s Iliad and inspired by past adaptations by Sartre and Ellen McLaughlin, this adaptation has been created by the youth theatre's Project K group and Paula Clark in the rehearsal room.

"With our thoughts firmly with those living in war and oppression and the destruction of innocent lives and communities, we dedicate this performance to every sister, daughter, wife and mother living in a place of conflict, wherever that may be," says Paula. "And to those who are fleeing war and seeking refuge in the world, we wish you safe passage, freedom and peace."

The Holding Place has been written and directed by Matt Harper and Irish storyteller Cath Heinemeyer, who is studying in York for a PhD in storytelling and adolescence. This devised piece is based on Dido And Aeneas and focuses on the theme of the present refugee crisis, using a script written in partnership with Project J, who have brought their own opinions, questions and concerns, but above all their empathy, desire to make a difference and belief in the power of hope.

"The joy of this piece is the integral relationship between fact and fiction," says Matt. "One minute we're watching a refugee in Calais, the next in Ancient Greece and at other times it could be both, but what really matters is that these stories are being told. Whether you delve into the myth or relate to the reality, The Holding Place is playing its part in a very important and current conversation."

Cath first brought the story of Dido and Aeneas to the youth theatre last September. "It called out for a new play to be made out of it," recalls Matt. "She sold it to me by telling the story so brilliantly and it was at the time of the Refugees Welcome Here march in York, so it was a beautiful moment of serendipity with a parallel happening going on right outside our window.

"Theatre has a duty to tell stories and, at the same time, my group of 14 to 16 year olds are so dedicated and so in tune with what they want to put into theatre, that it was like a weight had landed in the room as they felt the weight of responsibility. They didn't want to take a work of fiction and belittle the reality of what's happening now, when putting the ancient Greek myth together with the refugee story of today."

At the heart of the story told by a cast of 21 will be the idealistic, hopeful refugee Faisal, telling the story of Dido And Aeneas, and university student Emily, a pragmatic aid worker at the camp. "Our play is a storytelling piece verging on the Brechtian, representing differing view points on stage, where no-one is excluded from the conversation," says Matt.

The third play is "like a hybrid of Animal Farm and Lord Of The Flies," he suggests. Set on a platform out at sea and adrift, This Changes Everything describes how a group of women form The Community, a new type of society and a better way of living. Written by Joel Horwood and performed by Project L, it asks the question: "Can you change the world if you have taken yourself out of it?".

"It's a scenario that we could imagine happening: a group of young people setting up their own community on a platform far out at sea, rejecting the world as they have been given it, and seeking to make a better one for themselves," says director Kate Plumb. "It's a place where the community has no leaders, but a code is set by which they all should live."

York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre presents The Trojan Women on April 7 at 7pm and April 9 at 9pm; The Holding Place, April 7, 9pm, and April 8, 7pm; This Changes Everything, April 8, 9pm, and April 9, 7pm, in Theatre 1, York St John University. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk