“Fast-paced, witty and genuinely moving” – the fliers for this play certainly do not lie.  Adam McNally has skilfully captured the innocent fun and hidden fragility of male friendships, offering a believable and amusing portrait of the good times contrasted tragically with the bad.

Still struggling to come to terms with the death of his schoolmate Jonah, Anthony’s memories take to the stage.  Events as he recalls them conflict with a potentially very different true version, creating a tension between appearance and reality.  Nkoko Sekete carries the piece well, while Tom Powell (Rob) and Robin Morton (Jonah) give convincing performances, aided by smoothly flowing, natural dialogue.  The cast cooperate well with excellent direction and a convincing rapport, although Craig Nunes could benefit from restraining the irritating side of Charlie’s character: this may come to the fore later in the play, but need not be stressed to a distracting extent throughout.

The performance is at its best in the climactic funeral scene.  Its surreal presentation is inventive and truly first-class, accentuating the uncontrollable grief of Jonah’s friends at such a tragic death.  Masterfully directed, it is genuinely chilling – I have never had so many shivers run up my spine, and the play is certainly worth seeing for this scene alone.

It would be unreasonable to expect the script to maintain such high drama, and there is very little room for the plot to develop and match the power of the sudden death of the group’s most likeable member.  Indeed, the story feels somewhat forced and disconnected after Jonah’s death as the play fades away a little.  However, although the production’s final third is notably less dramatic, this is more due to the outstandingly high quality and intensity of the first part, rather than the shortcomings of the second.

This play struck a chord with me, as there was a Jonah at my school too.  However, the general themes of the performance are especially relevant to a student audience: McNally deals with the transition from school to university, adulthood and the real world, and the strains placed on old friendships, while demonstrating that guys have strong emotions too. The Study of Young Men maintains a good tempo, offers an entertaining portrait of boyish chums and gives an overwhelmingly tragic account of their maturity into young adults – a ‘must-see’ indeed.