At the end of October, eight members of the York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre flew to Estonia to create a piece of devised theatre with young people from three other countries.

They have now returned home after a sell-out performance in Tallinn, the capital city, as part of Platform 11+, a European project involving 12 countries and 13 theatre companies.

Pilot Theatre, company in residence at the Theatre Royal, has represented Britain in the project for the past two years, and when the 2010 project required a dedicated and talented young group to take part, Pilot knew the Theatre Royal youth theatre would be a “fantastic place to find them”.

Pilot producer Amanda Smith interviewed interested members and chose eight to fly to Tallinn with Youth Theatre director Kate Plumb. Once there, they had an intense week of workshops, culminating in a performance at the National Library of Estonia.

Forty people aged under 25 from Slovakia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Britain took part, working with British writer Arji Manuelpillai and Estonian director Siret Paju.

The final piece took the form of modern parables created by the company from letters of advice written to themselves. The show sold out and had a waiting list.

“The project opened the eyes of our youth theatre members to other cultures and their own abilities,” says Kate. “All of them ran workshops with their peers and learnt valuable skills that can be transferred to other aspects of their lives.

“It was a strong company to take to Estonia. They represented York Theatre Royal and the UK in a very positive light and developed as individuals and actors, and all have returned with new friends and many happy memories.”