MUSIC and words come together with devastating effect in this thought-provoking production focusing on the plight of refugees and their desperate journeys in search of new lives.

Playwright Sharon Muiruri has drawn on real-life stories of the lost and dispossessed to create Heart String - a timely meditation on the faceless migrants who trudge across the world in search of new hope.

While the cast of characters tell of the unbearable pain of losing their families, their homes, even their countries, violinist Jack Maguire with Josh Middleton (accordion) and Tim Karp (oude) from the award winning Don Kipper Klezmer band play highly emotive Eastern European music. They are joined by Damien Maguire on percussion.

It’s moving stuff with some fine performers from The Company of Fools, including nine-year-old actor Yan Nicholas, providing a glimpse of what it must be like to be caught in the crossfire of political wars or find yourself a victim of blind prejudice and mindless hatred. Haunted by ghosts from their past, these poor innocent souls cling to the memory of their lost worlds through salvaged possessions - a door-key, a coin, an infant’s shoes.

The brilliantly played music - a heady mixture of Klezmer, Doinas, Horas and Roma folk music - was of course brought to the West by another generation of refugees before, during and after the Second World War.

The production, part of the Arts By the Sea Festival, also included projected images created by digital artist Martin Coyne.