Students from across Watford are busy preparing for their GCSEs when I pay a visit to the Newton Price Centre, where youth group Daydreamer Theatre are in rehearsal for its latest show Dominoes Falling. The timing is particularly apt since the four characters in the play, Helen, Vincent, Joshua and Jenna are also getting ready for their exams.

A thrilling tale of jealousy and betrayal, Dominoes Falling pits these four friends against one another as they embark on group study. All are blessed with incredible potential and have bright futures ahead, but first they must make it through the night.

When the play airs at Watford Palace Theatre next Friday and Saturday, many of our town’s young people will be breathing a sigh of relief as the pressure is off and all they need do is wait for the results, so the show should have lots of appeal, but writer/director Mahlon Prince says the theme of the play is merely a “happy accident”.

He tells me: “Although it’s ended up as a play about young people it wasn’t originally about that at all. I’m a writer first and a director second and this wasn’t written for Daydreamer specifically.

“All my plays are character driven, decision-based dramas. Dominoes Falling is geared towards young people at a point of flux in life. Then I thought exam season would be a quite interesting time to set it as what you do next and what decisons you choose can have far-reaching consequences. Some choose not to progress or grow and it’s about what happens when you choose not to let go of your past.”

As the actors get to grips with the script it becomes apparent that there are many issues at play. The scenes bring to light competing allegiances between the characters, pitting male against female, friend against friend and heightening the sexual tension. At one point they play rock, paper, scissors to decide which subject to study first – it looks like a simple enough action to rehease but the cast discuss what feels natural to them and the need to synchronise their movements.

A week or so on from this rehearsal, Mahlon explains that what I was seeing was part of an organic process, which neatly sums up Mahlon’s view of theatre.

He says: “I want the actors to be part of the decision-making process. A lot of theatre relies on coincidences or massive outside influence on the plot that has nothing to do with the characters.”

In short, Mahlon’s approach puts the act back into acting.

“In rehearsals, I sit far away from the actors and let them get on with it. I don’t intervene unless it’s a technical thing. How they bring their characters out is up to them. We started rehearsing in January but there wasn’t a script until April.”

By that month, Mahlon felt ready to do a brief reading of the play at Rickmansworth School.

“They were so switched on to the idea. It showed me how you have to trust your audience’s intelligence.”

Dominoes Falling is at Watford Palace Theatre on Friday, June 19 and Saturday June 20 at 7.45pm. Tickets: 01923 225671