Award-winning Theatre Company 20 Stories High presents a vibrant double bill of two new plays at The Unity Theatre, Hope Street this July.

The local charity has been working with young people from excluded communities since 2006 and is growing from strength the strength sticking firmly to their belief that “Everybody’s got a story to tell, and their own way of telling it”.

In a first ever double bill for the company, both the company’s young groups will perform at the Unity Theatre and the plays have a distinctively political flavour.

Co-Artistic Director Julia Samuels said, “Much of our work with young people has a political edge but with the recent general election and many of our young people feeling the squeeze of budget cuts, the message we are hearing from them is one of increasing frustration. Both shows in our double bill explore just some of the challenges that young people in the UK are dealing with in austerity Britain.”

The Youth Theatre will be performing PROMISES under the direction of Co-Artistic Director Julia Samuels assisted by Adam Robson and Raven Maguire. The show is a collection of short stories, poetry and spoken word and explores the hopes and dreams of young school leavers faced with the reality that promises made don’t always equal promises kept.

Ms. Samuels continues, “PROMISES has been developed by our Youth Theatre as a response to some of the frustrations they now face as they make the transition from school into work in an age of austerity and whilst the show is made up of young people’s voices, the overall disappointment of a promise broken is very much universal.”

The Young Actors Company will also be presenting ANIMALS, a ‘gig-style’ show including live music, beat boxing and spoken word written and directed by Co-Artistic Director Keith Saha. After an M.P.’s comments that the young people of a Liverpool estate are all ‘animals’, the media spotlight is focused on the lives of young people who want their voices to be heard. But as events unfold, it is clear that we’re all driven by our animal instincts in order to survive.

Keith Saha says, “A lot of our work is about those on the fringes of society, those who, for whatever reason are excluded and ANIMALS focuses on young people who are willing to break the law in order to survive. Whilst the play is a work of fiction, it is very much rooted in truth.’

Animals/Promises is on at the Unity Theatre from Thursday 16th to Saturday 18th July. Tickets are priced at £5 with concessions available at £3. Tickets can be purchased from the Box office, online at www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk or by telephone on 0844 873 288.

Age Guidance: PROMISES all ages and ANIMALS 15+ (Contains strong language and mature themes.)