An award-winning drama based on a true World War Two survival story takes to the cornerHOUSE stage next week.

Lifeboat is a play by Nicola McCartney which tells the story of how two young girls survived the sinking of the SS City of Benares - which was torpedoed in the Atlantic by a German U-boat on September 17, 1940.

The boat had been carrying 250 passengers, including 90 children, to safety in Canada from war-torn Britain and only 11 children survived.

Imaginatively staged to show their lives at home, on board ship and their terrifying ordeal in the water, Lifeboat recounts how 15-year-old Bess Walder from London and 14-year-old Beth Cummings from Liverpool clung to an upturned lifeboat for 19 hours as they awaited rescue.

It is a tale of survival against huge odds where courage, loyalty and enduring friendship in the face of almost certain death were tested to their limits.

The girls simply refused to give up hope and willed each other to survive.

“The story of the sinking of the SS City of Benares is so important that everybody needs to be reminded of it from time to time," says director Rodney Pearson.

“This is a little play with a big heart that draws audiences into the story of the two young girls.

"The audience will travel on a journey with Beth and Bess, becoming involved in their lives before, during and after their shipboard experience.

“Laughter and tears are part of the journey and the memory of seeing this production will remain with you long after the 55 minutes of performance.”

Originally commissioned by Catherine Wheels, a Scottish-based theatre company, following publication of a magazine article about the survivors of the SS City of Benares, Lifeboat won the Barclays Theatre Award in 2002 for best new play for children and young people.

In 2010, the script was adapted as a one-act play by Pearson for the Cobham Players and went on to win several awards at the Elmbridge and Leatherhead Drama Festivals.

Lifeboat, the cornerHOUSE arts centre, Douglas Road, Surbiton, February 10 to 12, 8pm, £7. Call 020 8296 9012 or visit thecornerhouse.org.