Sir Robert Woodard Academy’s performance of Strangers Like Meisa touching performance about grief, friendships, masculinity, and relationships.

The play follows the grieving process of a boy in secondary school, due to his best friend’s unexpected death; discovering the battle within himself and displaying his own contrasting thoughts and emotions. The playwright, Ed Harris, wrote this piece in a way that allows the audience to gain an insight into the main character’s head. Through characterising and casting his individual emotions, we get to physically view his brain’s attempt to advise him on how he should act, think, and feel.

The versatile set of basic blocks and screens are easily moved and adapted for each set, while the ensemble also takes advantage of their greatest asset, strength in numbers. By abstractly using their physical bodies and voices to create shapes and sound effects; they successfully create the state of confusion that is occurring within his head. I especially enjoyed the breaks in the fourth wall, the two preppy narrators piping up to serve as light relief to the narrative and to provide some jokes and sarcasm for the audience, which is regularly greeted with an array of broad smiles and hearty laughter from family and friends in their seats. As an audience member, as well as entertainment from the sarcasm and humorous familial stereotypes, a pure sense of sympathy was evoked from me. I found Strangers Like Me to be an insightful performance that I truly think everyone would enjoy.

Eve is the winner of a £50 CFT voucher and a £50 Amazon voucher. Congratulations Eve! Thank you to everyone who entered the competition and participated in NT Connections 2023.