It is May Day in the village of Northbridge, and a group of children gathers in an electrified cage. Ostensibly they are there to rehearse their performance of the village anthem while, out of sight, the adults participate in the traditional, if dubious-sounding, May Day festivities (the 'Dance of the Horned Goat'). It gradually becomes clear, however, that this group of misfits has been corralled for very different reasons.

Dafydd James's Heritage was commissioned as part of the 2014 National Theatre Connections programme, a series of short plays specifically written for young actors and performed by school and college groups across the country. Heavily referencing George Orwell's 1984, the play is a black comedy that focuses on issues of nationalism, conformity and surveillance. The children have been brought up to believe in the superiority of Northbridge over their hated neighbours in Southbridge, and anyone who questions that superiority is branded a traitor. While in the cage, they are monitored on CCTV by two of their peers, the daughters of the mysterious Provost who runs the village.

The young cast do a great job of making this collection of outcasts seem believable, as their initial bickering turns into fear, panic, and an uneasy solidarity as the mood of the play becomes increasingly sinister. My only minor criticism would be that the cast were occasionally too quiet, particularly in the scenes accompanied by background music.

The stark set design and lighting contribute greatly to the play's atmosphere, lending an industrial quality that clashes heavily with the traditional village costumes worn by the children. Music and special effects also play their part in generating an eerie quality at odds with the supposedly bucolic events occurring off stage.

All in all, Heritage is a powerful and thought-provoking new piece, and the teenagers of Berzerk Productions should be congratulated for their handling of it.