It's hard to judge the accomplishments of teenagers required to play roles like the school kids in Heartbreak Beautiful. Just who are really acting and who are only being rather like themselves can be known only to those who know the performers.

This one-hour play by Christopher William Hill was commissioned by the National Theatre as part of its New Connections project and was staged by the Churchill Youth Theatre.

The format of the play took me a while to get into and it lacked complete shape, but there was plenty to enjoy along the way, most notably the clever use of movement to keep the piece interesting to the eye and finding out what made each character tick.

It's about kids being kids, with all their attendant relationships, angst and liberal amounts of swearing.

Central to the action was Dan (Charlie Ruane) acting as coach to his younger athlete brother AJ (Diderik Ypma) and pushing him harder and further than he wants to go.

There was lots of chavvy posturing among the girls in the "am I bovvered" mode of Catherine Tate's Lauren, with Jessica Fitch-Bunce making an impact as AJ's girlfriend Amber, who dreams of a life on benefits with kids, Jeremy Kyle on the telly and a diet of KFC and takeaway pizza.

Steven Pocknell was the school stud, managing to get Fit Kylie (Ellie Page) and Fat Kylie (Vicky Martin) simultaneously pregnant with twins.

Ben Reynolds was Headwound, the Goliath who refused to fight when put up to it by Elliott Gregory's hilariously weedy geek Oscar in a bid to attract the attention of a girl. He gets the girl in the end - just not the one he intended to!

Everyone else added to the team spirit of the show, kept in step with the fancy moves and helped create an authentic buzzy vibe.

Diana Eccleston

3 stars