Teenagers have drawn on their own experiences of family breakdowns to come up with a play that toured primary schools in Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire Family Mediation Service and Pegasus Theatre have joined forces with pupils at the Warriner School in Bloxham, near Banbury, to stage Walking on Eggshells.

Since the beginning of May, a group of 12 Year 10 students has been working with Pegasus youth arts project worker Michelle Hall and artistic director Euton Daley.

Sue Newby, of Oxfordshire Family Mediation Service, said: "There are a huge number of children in Oxfordshire schools, both rural and urban, that have been through family breakdown.

"The project was set up to give them a voice and also let their peers understand better what was happening to their friends."

The Warriner School was chosen because the Banbury area has a particularly high incidence of divorce and family breakdown.

Ms Hall said: "The participants have all been able to share their feelings and experiences of the issue and to strongly express, through this work, just how much a young person's world is rocked when families break down."

The inspiration for the project was a film produced by East Oxford-based Pegasus Theatre and Oxford Youth Theatre, originally commissioned by relationship counselling charity Relate, and the family mediation service.

Young actors acted out extracts from case studies in the film A Child's Voice and the work was used as a training video for professionals working with families.

Walking on Eggshells followed the stories of five families, created using the experiences and ideas of the Warriner School pupils.

It focused on the journey of one child in each family, going through break-up and the repercussions at home and at school.

Among the students who took part was Zena Winterbottom, 15, from Bloxham.

She said: "This is a great experience that teaches you to express your feelings and release your energy."

The play has been touring primary schools in the Banbury area this week, finishing at the Warriner School tomorrow.

Teacher Natalie Cave said: "They have really benefited from working with the professional theatre group.

"It is quite a sensitive issue and they have had to work really hard - it has been a unique and original experience for them."