When the class ends, four girls remain: Nell Shaw (Lauryn Ajufo), Raelynn Nix (Miya James), Beth Powell (Holly Howden Gilchrist) and Ivy Watkins (Claire Hughes). They form the school’s Feminism Club. Each has her own perspective on sex from “not before marriage” to “what’s the problem, I do it now” alongside the usual teenage gossip, including their shared admiration for Taylor Swift.

The boys are largely immature and peripheral, but the same cannot be said of the attractive teacher, Mr Smith, whose marriage and child are treated almost as inconveniences. Another girl, Shelby Holcomb (Sadie Soverall), arrives late after a long absence. Her story becomes central: did Mr Smith get Shelby pregnant, and if so, what should happen?

Belflower’s writing and Danya Taymor’s direction deserve considerable credit. Multiple storylines unfold, yet the play never loses sight of its central question. In The Crucible, Proctor’s affair with his young servant is often downplayed in favour of his final moral stand; telling the truth about the innocent people condemned as witches, even though it costs him his life.