A youth theatre group hope to beat the winter blues when they put on a performance festival this month.

Members of Youth Action Theatre (YAT), whose patrons include Rufus Sewell, Annabel Giles, Martin Freeman and Mariah Gale, will perform three original short plays for the Winter Festival.

The first piece, Backstage Blues, is a comedy of errors which focuses on a stage manager who frantically tries to get things ready before the curtain comes up.

Good Boy, the second play, is a black comedy which follows someone who has just been released from prison, while the third installment – Death or Coffee – is a satirical farce on subjects including revolution, civil war and dictatorship.

Now in its 42nd year, YAT has produced more than 100 major productions since the first production of the Diary of Anne Frank was successfully staged in March 1971.

The group, based in Hampton Hill, provides a free opportunity for any young person, aged between 16 and 25, to enhance their acting and theatrical skills through on-stage performances.

Youth Action Theatre (YAT) Winter Festival; Hampton Hill Playhouse Studio; January 15 to 18; £6; yat.org.uk/boxoffice or 0844 7401971.