A talented group of teenage actors from St Albans have performed at one of London’s most prestigious venues.

Students from Best Theatre Arts (BTA) school took to the stage at the National Theatre as part of its Connections Festival, a yearly event which celebrates youth theatre.

Selected from 270 entries around the UK, the BTA youth group, known as TheBYTE, performed Elinor Cook’s darkly disturbing play The Boy Preference.

“It’s a massive, massive achievement – beyond our wildest dreams,” enthuses the play’s co-director David Bevan, who runs BTA with his wife Annette Holland.

He continues: “One of the really nice things is that the cast have been with us for a really long time, some of them since they were four or five years old. It is a really nice validation. They are a very talented bunch.”

Set in the near future, The Boy Preference – as the title suggests – explores a world in which newborn girls are shunned in favour of baby boys. One night, a group of glowing women appear beneath the bedroom window of a young boy and the sinister drama unfolds about their identity.

David explains the play is gruesome in parts and has even provoked gasps from their audience during previous performances at The Maltings Arts Theatre and The Royal and Derngate in Northampton.

“Two of the boys die during the play – and it’s not a pleasant way to go either,” warns David, who adds: “It is not all dark though – there are some funny bits in it.”

TheBYTE group worked to expand the production, inspired in part by the work of German painter Anselm Kiefer, to fill the larger stage at the National.

It has been a long journey for the 19-strong team, who have been rehearsing the performance since October last year.

Co-directing the play is Emily Webster, a 16-year-old student at Beaumont School, while DJ Alex Eales has put together a haunting soundscape, and Jack Wills has designed the lighting.

“It has become a social hub, they come from different schools as well so it is really nice they all get on,” reflects David. “Nandos has probably made half its profits world-wide from this group!”

He adds: “We are tremendously excited.”

The Boy Preference was at The National Theatre, Southbank, on Thursday, July 2. Details: nationaltheatre.org.uk