HOT Ice Theatre, a new, young company from Halifax, present their 2012 Edinburgh Fringe hit The Historians in Pocklington tomorrow, Helmsley on Friday and Selby on Saturday as part of a new northern theatre collaboration.

This coming-of-age two-hander revolves around teenage friends Chucker and Mucker welcoming you to Halifax, home to 82,000 people, two McDonalds, one famous building society and the finest cloth hall in all England. Average rainfall: lots!

Stepping shell-suited out of the 1990s, this thick-as-thieves duo offer you their adolescent lives as a lens on the extraordinary history of one West Yorkshire town.

Belting breakneck over hill and down cul-de-sac, the teenagers run amok, terrorising Woolworths, traumatising pets, decimating dance floors and discovering that sometimes home can be an unfamiliar place.

“In the end, is the place you’re going more important than the place you’re from?” asks burgeoning Yorkshire playwright Katharine Markwick in her moving tale of female friendship, played out against the backdrop of one town’s great industrial past and national politics from the Thatcher to Blair eras.

“It’s a particularly interesting show as the entire tour has been booked as a unique collaborative effort between some of the region's most exciting small venues and is supported by an Arts Council England grant that we all received,” says Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones.

“The Small Venues Network is a really pioneering collective of 13 theatres and arts centres from across Yorkshire with a shared ethos and passion for promoting high-quality performances in some of Yorkshire's most intimate spaces.”

Selby Town Hall, Pocklington Arts Centre and Helmsley Arts Centre are joined in the network by The Ropewalk in Barton-upon-Humber, Otley Courthouse and Junction in Goole, among others.. “There are dozens of quirky little theatres across the county, all with a similar outlook to Selby Town Hall,” says Chris.

“It's wonderful that we have finally all got together and are actively supporting one another with great projects like this. We are real trailblazers nationally, and the potential for brilliant future developments is enormous.”

The Small Venues Network’s business model is being watched closely by many other organisations around the country, suggests Chris. “Our network has become a national leader in regional collaboration and presents a fantastic opportunity for venues like Selby Town Hall to receive high-profile new work and even specially co-commissioned productions.”

Welcoming Hot Ice Theatre to Selby and beyond, Chris adds: “They’re a really thrilling new Yorkshire company, and this heart-warming coming-of-age tale is set against a regional backdrop that will be familiar to many.”

Hot Ice Theatre’s The Historians visits Pocklington Arts Centre tomorrow at 7.30pm; Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm, and Selby Town Hall, Saturday, 8pm (doors, 7.30pm). Box office: Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; Selby, 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk