Teenage Riot

It’s hard to talk about Teenage Riot without referencing Skins. On the surface at least, Ontroerend Goed’s latest show feels like the theatrical equivalent of the Channel 4 drama, its attractive adolescent cast kitted out in the same uniform of day-glo tees and skinny jeans and similarly fuelled by pheromones and angst.

Ultimately though, the Belgian theatre company trumps the Bristol TV show with a production that’s as thought-provoking as it is provocative.  Holed up in a (literal) hotbox of hormones on stage, its eight young characters capture on camera that moment when childish game-playing loses its innocence and becomes a more dangerous and adult affair.

Truths are told, flesh is flashed and a whole lot of mess is made, all performed with such painful honesty by the exceptional young cast that it’s hard not to wince. When focus eventually switches to the audience we are left horribly exposed,.as the teens, swapping their former anarchic vibe for a surprising note of dignity, deliver a message we ignore at our peril – even if it’s too late in our case to act on it.