PILOT Theatre associate director Katie Posner believes "the greatest gift we as a society can offer our young people is hope".

Such is the message of Jonathan Tulloch's novel The Season Ticket, newly transformed into a play by Lee Mattinson for a co-production by York company Pilot and Newcastle's Northern Stage that plays York Theatre Royal from Wednesday to Saturday.

Previously turned into the film Purely Belter by York filmmaker Mark Herman in 2000, The Season Ticket explores love, friendship, family, football, hardship and the priceless currency of hope as Gerry and Sewell, two young lads from the wrong side of the tracks, try to raise enough money to buy a season ticket for their beloved Newcastle United in a world of payday loans and cash-on-credit.

"The Season Ticket is based on a novel about a pair of boys who become men as our tale unfolds," says Katie, who oversaw the rehearsals at Northern Stage's home in Byker. "Set in Gateshead, it explores the forgotten voices of two young people and how their love of Newcastle United offers them a sense of hope and belonging that is missing in their lives.

“I believe the greatest gift we as a society can offer our young people is hope: a belief that their future can be as bright as they can imagine. However, like the fortunes of the football team our story revolves around, sometimes these dreams are checked by the harshness of reality."

Katie was struck by both the film, which retains a cult status in Newcastle, and Tulloch's novel and sensed the story would suit both Pilot and Northern Stage's theatre philosophies.

"It's a story that's so unusual with its theme of hope and the need to belong and two young leads at its centre," she says. "These boys, with their disenfranchised voices, are shouting from the rooftops but no-one's hearing them and they're chasing a dream but never reaching it, but they never give up."

Katie is delighted with Lee Mattinson's new stage adaptation. "He's done a fantastic job with it, and regardless of whether or not you like football or support Newcastle United or don't, it's a human story that's really funny, with a genuine balance of comedy and heartfelt drama in it," she says.

"I'm not from Newcastle, I'm not the world's biggest football fan, but I've been able to fully explore a story that's so relevant. All we want is to give young people hope when they're not given any chance at school and that's why we need to wake up and make things change."

Pilot Theatre and Northern Stage present The Season Ticket at York Theatre Royal, October 12 to 15, 7.30pm nightly; Thursday, 2pm, and Saturday, 2.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk