A new play that deals with the realities of teenage sex is causing controversy in Northern Ireland, writes Fionola Meredith.

'When it comes to teenage sexuality, there's still a culture of concealment in Northern Ireland," says playwright Maria McManus. "It remains a highly repressive place."

Together with Raymond Scannell, McManus has written a new play for teenagers of 14 and over called His 'n' Hers, produced by the award-winning theatre company, Replay Productions. Approached from both a male and a female perspective, His 'n' Hers aims to open up the taboo of teenage sex with a combination of pithy dialogue and honest discussion.

The play premiered last month at the Old Museum Arts Centre in Belfast and is now touring schools and colleges across Northern Ireland. But Replay has been disappointed to receive several cancellations from schools who normally welcome their productions. (Keen to protect their ongoing relationship with these schools, Replay has refused to name them.)

Replay approached the subject of teenage sexuality with trepidation. General manager Brona Whittaker recalls a "nasty situation" in 1993 when a Marie Jones play, Yours Truly, which also dealt with teenage pregnancy, was forced to close after Free Presbyterian protests.

Drawing on input by teachers, health professionals and teenagers themselves, His 'n' Hers went through several stages of development until Replay were convinced that the content was challenging and credible enough to hold the attention of teenagers, yet not so explicit as to outrage teachers and parents.

Richard Croxford, artistic director of Replay, says: "It's crucial that youngsters aren't talked down to. The word 'educational' can be very off-putting. A play like this has to be entertaining, yet true and honest to the language, culture and experience of teenagers."

Peter McCready, vice-principal of Priory Integrated College in Holywood, Co Down, who was involved at the development stage, thinks they've got the balance right. "Replay realise that teenagers aren't going to respond to an Enid Blyton, "Famous Five" kind of approach." The theatre company also hopes that the play will be the catalyst for further discussion between pupils and teachers.

Frances Nelson, head of drama at St Louise's Comprehensive College, a girls' school on the Falls Road in Belfast, believes "a researched and professional performance such as His 'n' Hers allows students to relate to, empathise with and question the characters' actions. It presents a useful springboard for valuable discussion and follow-up work back in the classroom environment."

But Co Down teacher and school governor, Yvette McCullough, isn't convinced that drama is the right way to tackle such a sensitive subject. "When approaching an issue like teenage sexuality, you have to proceed with the utmost caution. You're dealing with a vulnerable, easily-influenced age group who are still learning about physical, moral and emotional issues. Teaching in this area should be free from ambiguity and pre-planned with a specific outcome in sight. Drama, by its very nature, can't work like that; it blurs the edges, and that's just too risky."

When it comes to sexual morality and sex education in the North, the religious divide is often absent. As sociologist Lisa Smyth, of Queen's University Belfast, notes, "rather than dividing communities, as religious or cultural politics in the region usually does, this arena of politics relies on emphasising an apparently shared 'pro-life', Christian, familial culture".

One organisation which receives cross-community political support is "Love for Life", a Christian "abstinence-centred" sex education project which works with more than half of all secondary schools in the North. Its director, Richard Barr, says he has found very few schools unwilling to participate in the programmes.

"It all depends on the message you're bringing into the school. There is a reluctance if 'use a condom or contraceptive' is the only message. But there's no difficulty if a 'delaying' perspective is the key idea. Parents and schools are rightly more comfortable with that approach."

Some health professionals think that the unease surrounding sex education in Northern Ireland must be swept away before any change in the high rate of teenage pregnancies can be seen. Breedagh Hughes, of the Royal College of Midwives' Northern Ireland branch, says: "There's a prevailing idea out there that if you don't talk about sex, teenagers won't do it. We need open and full and frank discussion, both at home and in schools."

Hughes sees the approach to sex education in The Netherlands as the ideal. There children receive relatively explicit information about sex, but it's set in the context of citizenship rather than biology. "It's not just about saying 'this is a plastic willy, let's practise rolling on a condom'. It's about teaching assertiveness, self-worth, mutual respect. So often when it comes to sex, some teachers hide behind religion; others hide behind the barrier of science. Neither of these approaches are helpful to you if you're aged 14 and a set of raging hormones on legs. Schools need to adopt a more open, less controlling approach."

Whittaker hopes that Replay's production will encourage young women in particular to nurture a sense of personal value and potential. Every teenager who watches the play receives a postcard labelled "Think Ahead", on which they are invited to fill in their ambitions, and to consider how these would be affected "if I became a parent now".

Margaret Morris, co-ordinator of the Dublin-based Teen Parents Support Initiative, says: "It's well known that social disadvantage can be both a cause and consequence of teenage pregnancy. Many young women have a lack of alternative vision for themselves, other than to become a teenage mum. They're less likely to complete their education, and much more likely to be on long-term social welfare. Their children in turn often become teenage mothers themselves - and so the cycle continues."

In His 'n' Hers, Bernadette Brown takes on the role of Zoe, a pregnant teenager. She discusses the feelings of ignorance, shame, vulnerability and confusion that can accompany early (often alcohol-fuelled) sexual experience: what happens "when you're too scundered to get protection or too stoned to use it or too wasted to say no".

"These are issues that every teenager goes through, yet they're never really discussed in society," says Brown. Leaving the theatre after a performance at the Belfast Institute's Tower Street theatre, Charlene (20) agrees that it's time to speak out. "This play shows that you can control your own destiny, your own actions. There's always a choice."

Teenage pregnancies

According to latest available statistics from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, in 2003 there were 2,803 births to women under 20 in the Republic: 2,069 of those were to women aged 18-19; 58 were to girls aged 15 and under.

In 2004, almost 800 women under 20 travelled from the Republic for abortion services in Britain. In 2003 in Northern Ireland, 1,484 women under 20 gave birth (2.3 per cent of the total female population under 20). From 2003 onward, for reasons of confidentiality, there are no statistics on the number of teenagers from the North travelling to Britain for an abortion, but 2002 statistics show that 275 teenagers had a legal abortion in Britain.