As I entered the Studio at York Theatre Royal, I was greeted by much of the cast positioned around the space. The lights were set in an inviting fashion portraying the atmosphere of a busy school playground, complemented by the music and energy of the attending audience.

The cast were a group of 11-14 year olds from York and the surrounding area. The play was directed by Kate Plumb with writer Arjunan Manuelpillai, who adapted his work based on the experiences of the young people performing in the play. School Ties was rehearsed in just five days culminating in two performances.

The play took the audience through a first day of a new school, with the audience treated as additional pupils on their first day. Moving from the opening playground scene where the head teacher gave a welcoming speech, the actors took us through a journey of discovery about the school life. We started with a visit to ‘Lowlife’, a character presented by a talented young man, Ben Stainthorpe, with a wide repertoire of vocal and characterisation skills (like much of the cast).  From here the scenes changed through to visit the sub-cultures of the school, including the geeks, gossip girls, pretty girls, ’emos’ and ‘chavs’. All these were in different areas of the space, incorporating the audience at multiple points to really involve them as a part of the show.

The ending of the piece was exceptionally powerful with a great use of audio to set the scene and bring together all the characters: they act as their animal equivalents whilst a David Attenborough-alike narrates the scene. Moving to the last day of the school year, we discover some further insights from the young people who, by this point, have gelled so well on stage that you wish the show would go on for hours.

My favourite parts have to include the classroom scene with a brilliantly slapstick Mr Humpledink – played by Jack Head – who captures the essence of a teacher who’s a bit deaf, a bit useless and all round unable to control a group of students.  The ‘David Attenborough’ scene was also a highlight, with so much reliance on physicalisation and character portrayal.

I learnt that the massive challenge of learning a 40-minute ensemble piece with many characters, scenes and cues (relied upon for the humour to work) can be overcome with grace and ease when you have a committed group of aspiring actors, and no doubt the fantastic creative and technical team. I will be taking away new ideas of how to present some touchy subjects in a relatable way on stage, engaging the audience throughout.