A YOUTH theatre group will perform a play about a missing girl and the power of friendship this weekend.

Weymouth Drama Club's Bridge the Gap group is set to perform Eclipse, written by the renowned playwright and poet Simon Armitage for National Theatre Connections.

The play follows six friends who are interviewed by police after the disappearance of Lucy Lime, a strange unnerving girl whom they met on a Cornish beach before a total eclipse of the sun.

The audience is then taken back on an adventure with the children as they wait eagerly for the eclipse.

Based on the solar eclipse which took place in August 1999 and was visible from parts of the UK, the production aims to take its audience on a voyage of mystery.

Hannah Baker, Eclipse’s director, said: “Eclipse is a mystical play about a group of friends during a total eclipse of the sun. There are some fantastic moments between the group and some more awkward ones, but what is sure, is that this will be one entertaining spectacle not to miss.”

The playwright Simon Armitage is Professor of Poetry at the University of Sheffield and the University of Oxford.

National Theatre Connections is one of the UK’s largest celebrations of youth theatre. Plays are commissioned for and about young people, from some of the best contemporary playwrights, and performed by schools and youth theatres all over the UK and Ireland.

Weymouth Drama Club's Bridge the Gap will be performing Eclipse by Simon Armitage at The Warehouse Theatre, Hope Street, Weymouth DT4 8TU on Friday, February 23 at 8pm and Saturday, February 24 at 8pm as part of National Theatre Connections - a nationwide celebration of new plays for young people. The play is suitable for ages 14 and above. Tickets can be purchased on the door or by contacting the box office at weymouthdramaclub.com