AN award-winning youth theatre company is bringing a hard-hitting play to Warrington which explores racial tensions in the UK.

The 20 Stories High team are embarking on their third national tour of Black which they say has found more resonance since the Brexit debate.

Writer Keith Saha’s story, which is coming to the Pyramid on Saturday, also provides a showcase for emerging actor Abby Melia and musician Craig Shanda as there are only two in the cast for the stripped back performance.

Julia Samuels, director and co-artistic director for Black, said: “The show is about a young white woman who lives in a very white community when an African family moves in across the road.

“It focuses on the development of the relationship between her and that family. When we first did it we were compelled in a way because there was quite a lot of racial violence occurring at that time which felt underreported.

“From research it felt like particularly since September 11 that sort of feeling had been on the rise but maybe the media weren’t looking at it very much.

“We weren’t hearing those stories but we spoke to quite a few people who have had experiences like the family in our production.

“It reminded Keith of growing up as a young mixed race lad in Birkenhead in the 70s and he couldn’t believe it was still happening now.”

Black was first brought to the stage in 2015 – a year before the UK voted to leave the EU. Keith and Julia considered revisiting the script because the political climate that followed had overlapping themes with Black. But ultimately they felt the original material still stood up on its own.

Julia added: “In 2018 post-referendum it feels like a discussion about immigration and a discussion about how receptive we are towards people coming into this country. There has been a growing confidence in some people articulating anti-immigrant views which, for some, has been ‘legitimised’ by the debate around Brexit. It’s in the news and so people feel this is a very relevant story to hear. We looked at it in April and wondered if it would need a rewrite but actually it didn’t need it.

“It still works as a story and the context and themes still resonate. Some people might think it’s a serious piece of work that’s hard to watch. Some bits are true and there are some really horrible things that happen in this story.

“But it’s also very funny. It’s very warm and it’s very human and we are basically following the story of this young woman and young man who find themselves in this situation and we’re with them on this journey.”

Meanwhile Liverpool-based 20 Stories High has been with Abby and Craig on their own journeys.

Julia, who has previously worked at the National Theatre, said: “It’s brilliant for them and Craig is usually a musician so he really enjoys the fact he’s part of a piece of theatre. It’s a different performance opportunity for him.

“For Abby, it’s a cracking part. She goes on this incredible, emotional journey. It sort of works as her monologue.”

Set up 12 years ago, 12 Stories High works with everyone from people in excluded communities to celebrities.

Julia added: “What we’re really interested in is what happens when you get a creative collaboration between different people. For young people it may be their first experience of the arts and then some of them go on to become artists themselves.

“We also work with really experienced artists and we are interested in the stories they want to tell and the art forms we can use to tell those stories.”

Every week around 60 young people come through the doors.

Julia said: “Abby first joined 20 Stories High’s youth theatre when she was 16. She has now been with us more than seven years and is setting up her own theatre company so it can have a massive impact on people’s lives.”