A THEATRE company is to take its drama about young people from different backgrounds on a nationwide tour.

Castaways, produced by Oxford-based Mandala Theatre Company, tells the story of three teenagers born on the same day, in the same town but with very different life stories.

Written by award-winning playwright Atiha Sen Gupta, Castaways is the second part of Mandala’s trilogy Place, Identity and Belonging.

Mandala Theatre founder Yasmin Sidhwa said: “We wanted to talk to young people from diverse backgrounds about their sense of connectedness – or not – with the communities they have grown up in. The play is set in a neighbourhood where the blue touch paper is waiting to be lit. I’m thrilled to be working with exciting young playwright Atiha Sen Gupta and a trio of highly talented young actors.”

The challenging new drama has been developed through creative workshops.

Ms Sidhwa, formerly creative learning director at Pegasus Theatre in Magdalen Road, East Oxford, is directing the new show, which starts a nationwide tour on May 1.

It will take in 16 cities before returning to Oxford, where there will be performances at the Old Fire Station in George Street on Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2.

Rehearsals are now taking place at Cowley’s Ark-T Centre and Oxford Brookes University.

The play has been developed through workshops with young people in Oxford, Luton, Stockton-on-Tees, and Woolwich in London.

Castaways is the second of three plays to be specially commissioned by Mandala to bring the stories of marginalised people into the limelight. The company’s debut production, Night Light, explored the fate of young people seeking asylum who arrive in the county as unaccompanied minors.

Mandala Theatre Company has recently received grants from Arts Council England, Oxford City Council and the Ragdoll Foundation to tour its new production, with creative workshops and panel debates.

It works with arts organisations, community and education partners, including Asylum Welcome and Refugee Resource and the company tours to cities where there are immigration issues.

For more information about Castaways visit mandalatheatre.co.uk