YOUNG people wrongly are often accused of having no sense of community, of preferring nights on (anti-)social media, connecting only through the ether.

York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre's three groups of 14 to 16-year-old groups dismissed such a notion by presenting three nights of plays, each based on on a different interpretation of the topical subject of connecting and communicating with others.

Under directors Paula Clark, Matthew Harper and Kate Plumb respectively, The Trojan Women, The Holding Place and This Changes Everything presented stories of the past, present and a possible future, with two of the three plays being performed each night from Thursday to Saturday last week.

Your reviewer missed out on the Project K group's new telling of the Greek tragedy of The Trojan Women, dedicated to those "who are fleeing war and seeking refuge in the world; we wish you safe passage, freedom and peace".

The Holding Place was written and directed by Harper and Irish storyteller Cath Heinemeyer, now doing a PhD in York in storytelling and adolescence. Performed by Project J, this devised piece interweaved the mythical story of Dido And Aeneas with the reality of the present refugee crisis, driven by the cast's desire to make a difference and their belief in the power of hope.

Idealistic, hopeful refugee Faisal (Safa Sadozai) told Dido's story to those around her in a Calais camp, where university student Emily (Hannah Elizabeth Brown), a pragmatic aid worker from York, sought to caution Faisal against breaking from formal procedures, but nothing could hold back the dam.

At the play's close, Faisal was reading Emily's letter, experiencing a new home in York, the city that "smells of chocolate" and encourages you to look up at the Minster edifice to work out your bearings. What a symbol of hope that is, and what excellent lead performances too.

Project L's play, Joel Horwood's This Changes Everything, came crashing down to a blunt reality in its variation on the themes of George Orwell's Animal Farm and William Golding's Lord of The Flies. On a platform far out at sea and adrift, a group of young people had freed itself of the rest of the rotten world to form The Community, a new type of society aspiring to a better way of living.

This was a place where there were no leaders, only a code set by all, by which they all should live, but along came three outsiders and, well, you could guess where this would end up, repeating history and great literature alike. Nevertheless, it was a new route to a familiar destination, and Plumb's cast was impressively assured, seeking out the moments of humour that made way to paranoia and dystopian destruction.

All in all, this was a thoroughly worthwhile youth theatre project, combining challenging ensemble performance with a theme that demands everyone's attention in a city that has not always been the most welcoming, for all the success of its present-day tourism industry.