BWW Reviews: A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD, Jermyn Street Theatre, April 20 2015

A school is a self-contained society with its own hierarchies, behavioural norms and interdependent relationships. As such, they offer rich pickings for writers, whether Lindsay Anderson recreating the spirit of Paris 1968 at a harrowing (and Harrow-like) boarding school in "if..." or Alan Bennett remembering things past in "The History Boys". Jonathan Lewis's A Level Playing Field (at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 9 May) is good enough to hold its own in that kind of company, its biting satire set against (what I took for) the English urban riots of 2011.

With more than a nod towards Barrie Keeffe's brilliant 1977 television play "Gotcha", we find ourselves trapped in a faceless room in which schoolkids and one teacher confront their deepest anxieties through a mixture of banterish bullying, Freudian confession and emotional trauma. It could become just a little overripe, but director Chris Popert keeps a tight rein on the tension and avoids an "Eastenders episode at Eton" through coaxing some truly remarkable performances from his cast of non-professional teens, who are just out of school themselves.

The acting, and I don't say this lightly, is sensational, all eleven young men and women creating completely believable, if often grotesque, individuals, capturing their characters with a subtlety that stands up in a venue as intimate and unforgiving as this one. Eve Delaney's buttoned up Bella's nervous adherence to isolation rules (our kids are "caged" between morning and afternoon A level exams) is over-compensating for her little ruse; Christian Hines is frighteningly plausible as the understated rebel, JJ; and Isabella Caley's furtive looks tell you all you need to know about her hidden emotions.

Standing out even is this company are two performances that really should be in the frame when the awards season rolls round. AJ Lewis's Zachir is a triple outsider: an Albanian Muslim refugee; a working class scholarship boy; and much brighter even than these bright kids. He has plenty of charm, but minimal empathy for others, his plain speaking banter merely a cover for his contempt. You have to hope that the events portrayed act as a catharsis for him and that he reaches something like his academic and personal potential, because there are many like Zachir tortured by their gifts.

Jojo Macari's Hooksy is a guitarist with enough hang-ups to keep a squad of counsellors employed for years. He is tremendously funny (with more than a touch of the young Rik Mayall about him) and sparks genuine pathos in a killer denouement that at once surprised and felt inevitable - a mark of good writing. Casting directors should be filling his inbox with invitations, as I believe Macari has star quality to burn - and the audience reaction showed that I was not alone in that thought.

There's swearing, shouting and smoking in the production, but it never feels forced and therefore should be okay for teenage audiences (though it may need toning down a little for any school Sixth Form productions which would surely be hugely successful). Teens will love seeing their lives portrayed as they are and (largely) left unjudged, the morality of system called into question, rather than its products. Everyone else will enjoy another example of the power of great theatre. Don't miss it!

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