Kelle's mum, Sam, got pregnant and was left holding the baby at 13. Now Kelle is 13 and all she wants is for her tormentors at school to stop calling her a virgin. So she comes up with a plan, one that will have consequences.
The National's Connections festival offers a season of 10 short plays by leading playwrights including Roy Williams, Dennis Kelly, Glyn Maxwell, Judith Johnson and Bryony Lavery. The plays have been written for and are performed by young people from 200 youth groups.
The season opens with Roy Williams' Baby Girl, which explores the real issues behind why the UK has Europe's highest teenage pregnancy rate. It is funny, fast and true, and has Williams' characteristic rude sweetness: "I got pregnant first, don't copy me," yells Kelle to her friend, Danielle, who hates children but thinks a baby would be nice to hug. The government should cancel sex education classes in schools and give out tickets to see Williams' play. Cambridge's Young Actors Company do the city proud.
Dennis Kelly is the hot playwright of the moment. His Deoxyribonucleic Acid - ably performed by Harrogate Youth Theatre - is an edgy metaphysical thriller set among a group of teenagers, one of whom goes missing. It's a cross between Lord of the Flies and Darwin, with a dash of Mrs Thatcher's "there's no such thing as society" thrown in. Scary.
· Until July 17. Box office: 020-7452 3000.
