A play featuring Robina Hood – the famous Robin showing his feminine side – is featuring in the Battle of Lewes festival.

Carry On Magna is being performed by Lewes Youth Theatre with performances continuing today (Saturday) on the Railway Land near the Linklater Pavilion.

The play is by John Agard, a Lewes resident and winner of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012.

It is part of Prepare for Battle at 750, a National Lottery-funded youth democracy festival topping off the Battle of Lewes 750 celebrations which have been taking place since May 3.

The cast of Carry On Magna is made up of students aged 16 to 18 from Sussex Downs College, which organised the festival.

Philip Rose, a teacher at the college who is acting in the play, said: “If this production – steeped in the Englishness of Spamalot and Blackadder – doesn’t make you question history and democracy then nothing will.”

Prepare for Battle at 750 also includes live bands, dance, theatre and a Democracy Den, with speakers including the MP Norman Baker, campaigner Peter Tatchell, and Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee.

Mr Rose said: “It’s been terribly exciting pulling it all together and we are getting some fantastic feedback.”

Free tickets for the festival are available for under-25s and must be booked online in advance. Adult tickets for Saturday and Sunday cost £10 each. Festival ticketholders can watch the play as part of the event.