MALVERN Theatre Players could hardly have chosen a more demanding play for a largely youthful cast than this adaptation of John Wyndham's novel The Chrysalids.

A series of short scenes can make the play hard for the audience to follow at times and its theme of intolerance presents some strong images. None more so than the children throwing stones and vegetables at a man tied to a stake.

It was chosen with the intention of involving a number of young people in the main roles, indeed the youngsters really drive the narrative.

The play starts and ends rather suddenly but once the audience had worked out what was going on, the children made an excellent job of carrying the story along at a good pace thanks to a series of strong performances.

It is set in a world where 'imperfect' people are banished from society and a group of young people who can communicate via telepathy are forced to keep their ability secret. The children's telepathic communication was dealt with using a video screen suspended above the stage, which was very effective.

The central relationship is that between Ben Martin (David) and Holly Bradburn (Sophie), who has been forced to hideaway in the woods with her parents all her life because she has six toes.

David has been brought up to hate so-called 'fringe people' but with his own hidden telepathic powers he is more sympathetic to Sophie. Their portrayal of young love is touching and powerful.

In the end, the relationship leads to Sophie and her family being killed and David leading his group in search of other people who are like themselves. The play put a lot of responsibility on Ben Martin's young shoulders but he carried it well.

Nick Howells