YOUNG women offenders, deaf children and teenagers concerned with racism are among the target audiences for new drama from the University of Derby.

Third-year students on the university's theatre arts and creative expressive degree courses are taking part in four theatre education projects. These include working with Heanor Gate Science College pupils to give a short play about racism in schools and host discussion groups with teenagers about the drama.

There are also acting workshops on the issues of violence against and by young women, organised through the Nottingham Youth Offending Team and Nottingham Junior Attendance Centre.

The students are also staging scenes from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for youngsters at the Royal School for the Deaf in Derby, with signing interpreters working alongside the actors. They are also giving a new twist to the story of The Hungry Caterpillar for Walbrook Nursery in Derby, where half the pupils have English as a second language.