"Lost" by Alan Hescott.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Originally commissioned for Nottingham's Television Workshop, "Lost" tells the story of a class of Jewish youngsters who are held in Prague town hall. In their innocence and naivety they struggle to imagine the horrors facing them. It's a powerfully moving play which deals with survival, sacrifice, friendships, love and, above all, identity. The play has only been performed a few times, once on Radio 4.

The play is performed by the Lace Market Youth Group, which makes this performance even more poignant. When you think about your own children, and then picture them in this position, it is utterly heartbreaking. And then when you discover that the children in the story are unaware that their parents are no longer alive, your blood runs cold. Don't they say ignorance is bliss? Not in this scenario.

The young cast work well as an ensemble and I would not be able to pick any one of them out for r5ecognition over any other. They deliver and deal with the emotive subject matter with maturity and professionalism.

Keeley Nason (Leah), Noah Ash (Wladyslaw), Theo Hutchinson (Moshe), Kate Russell (Shlomo), Charlie Rose (Shin), Edgar Shelton (Haim), Jay Durbacz (Miklos), Binobi Bear - which by the way is the coolest name ever (Stefan), Louise Humphrys | Tiana Ilic (Miriam), Alex Hort (Lotte), Dani Melo | Olivia Fenyn (Daniel), Jess Erwin-Jones | Angel Akpovi (Esta), Beau Theakstone | Viola Hiebert (Leon), Aayla Boughton | Viola Hiebert (Hanna), Emily Hallam | Vivien Hughes (Arlene), Tilly Plant | Olivia Fenyn (Sophie), Kiah Harrison (Mouse), and Phoebe Goodwin | Haliya Duncan-Mead (Gypsy). This is the stellar cast who play the young ones.

Fred Stevenson (Miklos Senior), Kenzie Phillips (Stefan Senior), Indica Davies | Lucia Lockley Morante (Miriam Senior) and Keira Fletcher | Judaea Williams (Esta Senior) play the elder versions of the four children who went on to tell the story. 

Directed by Malcolm Todd, with Co Directors Ian Smith and Ben Dixon. This must have been an emotional journey but also an enormously rewarding process to see how this young cast have dealt with the script, ingested the whole history and meaning of the story, and then delivered the performance they did.

Allan Green was in charge of the Lighting Design, creating scene closures, simple and effective.

Sound Design is by Jonathan Blacknell, and the simple piano music that meandered throughout was positively haunting.

The story is an emotional and shocking one. Yes, we all know the reality of the holocaust, but that does not dilute the shock factor, even today, and the understanding and maturity of this cast was appreciated by everyone who experienced this beautifully written piece of theatre.

"Lost" is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 1 April.