YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre is searching for a writer to create a bespoke play to be performed at York Castle Museum.

The Debtors’ Prison cells will host the 45-minute play, which is being commissioned for £3,500 and will be performed by around 25 actors aged 14 to 16.

It is commissioned by York Museums Trust and York Theatre Royal as part of the museum’s Changing Spaces project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Julian Ollive, Theatre Royal education associate, said: “We aim to commission the very best plays for young people which provide the best possible performing experience.

“We are seeking a playwright to create the script for this performance, working with the museum to access research materials and with York Theatre Royal to ensure that it meets the needs of young performers.”

The writer should have produced work for young people before and will need to use museum and archive collections as the basis for their research.

Lucy Knock, interim learning manager for the museum, said: “The museum’s past as a prison to notorious villains, thieves and murderers will provide a rich history for a talented writer to draw on to create an intriguing, thrilling or moving account of what life was like here.

“To see this performed in the original cells will breathe new life into these spaces and allow us to share some of the building’s fascinating stories with new audiences in new ways.”

For further details visit; yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/list/youth_theatre_commission.php