“Everyone has really connected with the show, I feel people of all ethnicities standing up in the audience and shouting ‘I’m a Glasgow Girl!’” says Cora Bissett, director of the Glasgow Girls musical at Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Her show follows the true life story of seven young women in Glasgow, Scotland, who campaigned against the treatment of asylum seekers in 2005.

Cora was inspired to take the story to the stage after watching Lindsay Hill’s BBC documentary that captured the lives of the girls as they battled to save their school friend and her asylum-seeking family who were forcibly taken from their home to be deported.

The Fyffe Fife-born director, who has lived in Glasgow for 20 years, explains why the story is still relevant more than 10 years later.

She says: “I loved it as a story and a piece on social commentary, as a really important story to tell and it is still very current now, due to the refugee situation, and asylum seekers which has become more urgent than ever. I think a lot of people know about and have an opinion about asylum seekers now, so the story is really important.

“The documentary was incredible, as it gave me an insight into how the events unfolded as it began filming as a very positive story about how well asylum seekers were integrating into Glasgow. However, in the middle of filming, one of the girls was actually removed in the middle of the night and then the documentary maker realised there was a new story to tell.

“It was just amazing how everyone in the community fought for them, while even putting their own liberty at risk. For example, one woman was hiding children under her bed to stop the authorities from taking them away, as she just felt that the children belonged in their new homes, rather than the places they came from, such as the Congo.”

Cora began working with the girls five years ago, as she wanted to capture their true stories.

“They have been a really big part of the journey. I was very intrigued by the incredible spirit of these teenage lassies who banded together when their friend left.

“I thought it was a brilliant story about teenage empowerment, as they found their political voice and wrote to their MPs, councillors and were heard in Parliament.

“It was such an incredible journey that they went on and I just thought, how many shows depict teenagers being really smart and empowered and not in a street culture sort of way?

“They all had so many incredible stories to tell. There was a mix of Scottish girls, Roma, Somali, Afghani, all from different backgrounds and the thing that united them was that they had come from war-torn areas and had found this home in Glasgow.”

Glasgow Girls is at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford E15 1BN, until Saturday, October 1, 7.30pm. Details: 020 8534 0310, stratfordeast.com

By Rachel Russell