She draws on her own experience of life at an inner- city school to portray a group of realistic characters whose decisions, whether well-meaning or selfish, lead to their own downfall.

Mamma Mia! actor Jackie Clune swaps her frilled flairs for dowdy cardigans as the teacher who decides not to take further action when a pupil shoves her to the ground.

Even when he accuses her of assault, she remains resilient in her belief that he and his friends will eventually do the right thing and cough to their terrible lie. Strong language and violent content has led Mogadishu's producers to give it an over-14s advisory, and those teenagers who do get to see it may well be shocked by how ruthlessly bleak Franzmann's creation is.

But, for an adult who hasn't lived an entirely sheltered life, it's all depressingly predictable.

We already know there are children who seem determined to live outside society's rules. We know they deserve help despite it being almost impossible to reach them. It comes as no surprise that their home life has a lot to do with their destructive behaviour.

There may be no easy solutions to these problems – but there are plenty of questions and Mogadishu failed to explore these in any real detail, limited by its linear plot structure and lack of in-depth analysis of its characters' motives.

But there was still plenty to like, not least the urgency of the opening scene in which a black pupil seems completely unaware of the irony of his own behaviour as he racially abuses another boy.

The fast-paced humorous exchanges between members of the teenage gang showed Franzmann's knack for dialogue. And Tom Scutt's ominous cage-like set, which surrounded the stage, emphasised the characters' inability to change their fate.Laura Davis