YORK Settlement Community Players are to mark the centenary of the sinking of HMHS Rohilla by staging the premiere of Graham Sanderson’s play, Rohilla.

Inspired by the true events of one of the greatest rescue attempts in the history of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the play will open in Whitby next month before playing Scarborough and York too.

Set in 1914, Rohilla follows the story of Amy Potts, a young Whitby woman, and her sweetheart, Charlie Porter, who is fighting with the Green Howards on the front line in Belgium. The wrecking of HMHS Rohilla on October 30 that year forms the historical background to their fictional stories.

"Both are touched by the outbreak of the First World War as Charlie faces the horror of the trenches, while Amy finds herself at the centre of the Rohilla rescues, led by the Whitby lifeboat," says Graham. "Both will discover that their world has changed forever."

York Settlement Community Players are breaking new ground with Rohilla by touring to Whitby and Scarborough and then returning to home turf at Friargate Theatre, Friargate, York.

The production introduces an ensemble of new and well-established community actors, who are looking forward to opening the play at the James Cook Theatre, in the Whitby Coliseum Centre, on November 8, almost 100 years to the day when HMHS Rohilla ran aground.

Performances will take place at 2.30pm and 7.30pm and will be followed by a 3pm show in The McCarthy at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough on November 16. The final three shows are booked into the Friargate Theatre at 7.30pm on November 21 and 2.30pm and 7.30pm on November 22.

The creative team for Rohilla will be headed up by York director Jan Kirk, who has worked on two previous Settlement productions, Travels With My Aunt and Humble Boy. Jan is joined in this latest venture by movement director Elizabeth Nolan and musical director Oliver Mills, who has composed original music for this special centenary piece.

"I am very excited to be working on Graham Sanderson’s new play, which captures the spirit of the ordinary people of Whitby, who worked alongside the lifeboat crew in October 1914 and whose dogged determination saved so many lives," says Jan.

Tickets for Settlement's autumn production of Rohilla cost £10, concessions £8. For Whitby, phone 01947 825000 or send an email to info@whitbycoliseum.com; Scarborough, 01723 370541 or.sjt.uk.com; York, 01904 613000 or ridinglights.org

A proportion of the profits from this touring production will be donated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the charity that funds the rescue service to save lives at sea.