Voices of Baghdad must surely be the most powerful work to emerge from the MESH youth arts festival. A programme note tells us: “When you live in Baghdad you dream of getting out and living just a moment without fear, without pressure of bombs; but to travel to other countries is not an automatic privilege.”

Nothing illustrates this better than the fact that three of the intended cast had failed to get exit-visas, and had been left behind. The remaining three tell us, and also act out, horror stories of life in the ‘prison’ of Iraq. At times Annet Henneman — a professional actress — is the mother of Ali Kareem and Mahmoud Al Balawi, as they tell how their father was imprisoned for years, so that they did not recognise him on his return. He was shot and his arm amputated. The cast play other roles too: they are prison-guards or victims; they tell of people locked into a room, and how terrorists shot a hole in the door and tossed in a grenade. Henneman was raped on her wedding day. This is a harrowing piece that gives us a vivid impression of life in Iraq. All three are excellent, but it’s Henneman who moves us most.

It was my hope that the young people from Bertolt Brecht Gesamtschule in Bonn would improve on their lacklustre effort of last year, and I was not disappointed. Lola Runs is inspired by Tom Tykwer’s German film Run Lola Run, in which the heroine sprints throughout almost the entire 80 minutes in her efforts to save her boyfriend. While their piece does not tell this story, the cast — aged between 14 and 17 — imbue their time on the stage with the same energy that drives the film, while asking “Who are we, where are we going?” or telling of their desires: “I wish I was a princess, I wish I was a forest.” There is a pleasingly raucous soundtrack which underlines their rush through life, and their wish for a better future.