What would you do if you were Chloe? If you were a 17-year-old girl with a new born baby and deeply troubled past who is helpless to stop her family splitting apart?

York-based writer Hannah Davies’ Little Angels, directed by Julian Ollive, sees Chloe (Rebecca Beattie) try to come to terms with her past so she can face her uncertain future.

As Chloe delves into her past, dark memories emerge. Even with the help of Aunty Anne (Beryl Nairn), she feels the world is against her.

Chloe’s mother Jean (Maggie Smales) was abusive – shown in haunting flashback – and is now in prison for a brutal crime; her sister Casey (Katie Waller) has left home and moved on with her life.

Chloe struggles to communicate with her brother Michael (Luke James); she is drifting away from her friend Leanne (Eleanor Rushton) and she resents her baby, leaving others to look after the child.

Beattie’s Chloe is the anchor. She is intransigent and adversarial, but with wicked sarcasm and a sneering expression.

She is, however, an unsympathetic character and only shows sign of growth in the last scene. Smales and Nairn are solid as the vituperative matriarch and selfless provider respectively.

Waller has some lovely flourishes as the transformed and hedonistic Casey and Rushton provides welcome laughs as the ever-optimistic Leanne.

But the real star is James’s Michael. His nervous twitches and hilarious facial expressions make him a magnetic presence, even when on the periphery of the stage merely observing others. When he takes centre stage he electrifies the audience, particularly with an enthralling trip to a music festival. James is a charismatic and compelling talent.

York Theatre Royal Young Actors Company has built a momentum that shows no signs of slowing. Little Angels is a poignant and affecting piece, juggling several complex issues. Its greatest flaw comes not in the scenes but in the scene changes. The decisions to have the actors clear away props in character while booming electronic music played were rather misjudged.

Little Angels is bleak and uncompromising, but engaging with darkly comic moments and is very well executed. It is a paradigm of what Young Actors Company can achieve.

Little Angels, York Theatre Royal Young Actors Company, The Studio, York Theatre Review until Saturday, 7.45pm, plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box Office 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk