THE University of York department of theatre, film and television presents Mark Ravenhill's Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat in the Black Box Studio, Heslington East Campus, tonight and tomorrow at 7.30pm.

How old were you when the "War on Terror" began? Most of the second-year theatre students at York Uni were yet to understand the meaning of war, but now they take to TFTV’s most versatile space to explore the effects of a war that is simultaneously visible and yet never within reach.

Three companies offer their take on how the personal and the private are directly affected by war, staging selected scenes from Ravenhill’s epic play cycle from 2007.

War Of The Worlds is set in a city at war. The chorus are spectators of the atrocities occurring in a neighbouring country. The company explores ideas of military intervention, the exploitation of war victims and how institutional politics affects everyday relationships, within the context of contemporary Britain.

The following scene begins with the arrival of two soldiers on Haley’s doorstep, bearing the news that her son has been killed in action. This scene looks to expose the consequences neglected by the government of foreign conflict in the home and the intrusion on the domestic space of outside forces.

Next come The Mother and Paradise Lost, which ask: how can a home become fractured by war overseas? What makes a person look the other way? These two plays tackle the moral contradiction of responding to a distinct war in the fractured domestic sphere. In The Mother, an all-female cast provides a heartfelt and gut-wrenching take on a woman losing her identity as a mother. Paradise Lost then pushes figures to their breaking point. A restless Liz has her principles shattered, bringing into question the morality of some very questionable figures from a world she can only imagine.

The third company presents Women In Love and War And Peace. In the first, prompted by the news of the airstrikes in Syria in April 2018, Anna reminds Dan where they were during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The reality is that they were a world away from it, safe from the horror that raged on other people’s doorsteps. Or were they? Reflecting on their actions and reactions, they uncover some uncomfortable truths. Apathy, empathy, the exploration of our own insecurities and the prejudices we have about others are all at the forefront.

War And Peace explores a seemingly impossible relationship between a seven-year-old boy and a headless soldier. Through the medium of puppetry, the scene shares Alex’s recurrent nightmare, where Alex’s bedroom is the invaded territory; the soldier is the occupying force. Homeless, alone and morally scarred, the soldier draws on our desire to understand what a war on terror was and continues to be.

Tickets cost £5 at tftv.ticketsolve.com/shows and can be collected on the door.