LIFE in a tower block is the theme of a gritty contemporary production to be staged next week by performing arts students at Great Yarmouth College.The Heights is a challenging play about teenagers' lives on a high-rise estate recently performed as part of the National Theatre Connections series.

LIFE in a tower block is the theme of a gritty contemporary production to be staged next week by performing arts students at Great Yarmouth College.

The Heights is a challenging play about teenagers' lives on a high-rise estate recently performed as part of the National Theatre Connections series.

Lisa McGee's production focuses on the life of Lillie Lee, confined to her bedroom in the Heights tower block by sickness. She constantly writes stories inspired by her observations of her neighbours.

Themes of the play are the empty lives of young people, teenagers with no direction in life and little money who fill their lives by getting drunk, messing around with guns and hanging out.

The audience is often left wondering what is fact and what is fiction in Lillie's stories.

Performances will be in the college's new 110-seat theatre in the �2 million Studios 2 and 3 next Thursday and Friday.

Melissa Isik, course leader for the BTEC First Diploma in performing arts, said the students had risen to the challenges of getting to grips with the original and unpredictable play.

She added: “They can relate to the characters and it is their age group. They are enjoying working and watching it all come together.”

The play touches on what it is like to be different from others, examining the idea of story telling and the power of the imagination and looks at how the lines between fact and fiction can often become blurred.

Entry to the production is free to anyone attending the taster sessions in the new School of Arts and Creative Technologies.

To find out more about the taster sessions contact 01403 419213 or, for play tickets, phone 01493 419278.