IN A mysterious dystopia, against a backdrop of war, a lifeboat filled with children is adrift at sea – their passenger liner sunk by an unknown and unseen enemy.

As darkness falls and their rations dwindle, fear, superstition and madness start to take hold. As hours turn into days, it becomes clear that not all of them will make it out alive.

Fresh from exploring Bristol’s past in sell-out heritage project A Thousand Seasons Past, Bristol Old Vic Outreach present their latest full-scale production, Life Raft.

Directed by the Tony and Olivier Award nominated Melly Still (Coram Boy – National Theatre and Broadway, Nation - National Theatre), who returns to Bristol Old Vic (Beasts and Beauties, Alice in Wonderland, Coram Boy), adapted by Tamasha’s Fin Kennedy and featuring a cast of both professional actors and young performers from Bristol Old Vic Young Company and across the South West, this extraordinary world premiere marks a poignant moment in Bristol’s present, and looks towards our future.

Supported by Bristol 2015 European Green Capital, Life Raft is a poignant observation of what it is to be a child. By placing young people in the most extreme environment imaginable, away from the gaze of adults, the play offers a startling paradigm of human relationships: power struggles, persecution in the face of fear and a world with diminishing resources.

Inspired by a terrifying true story – The Raft Of The Medusa was German playwright Georg Kaiser's last play before his death in 1945 – this contemporary adaptation by award winning playwright Fin Kennedy brings the action much closer to home, anatomising the psychology of hysteria as resources run short and Europe once again enters a period of paranoia and blame, and in doing so rediscovers a parable for our troubled times.

With spare and haunting design by Max Johns and sound by Dave Price the play reflects the very real despair as we struggle to keep afloat in the current climate.

Life Raft is at Bristol Old Vic from September 3-5. For more information and to book tickets visit bristololdvic.org.uk/liferaft