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School is in session, as LOWRY plays host to Olivier award-winning show, The Boy at the Back of the Class. A heartwarming tale of adventure and friendship that shines a light on a child’s perspective of the refugee crisis.
Best friends Alexa (Sasha Desouza-Willock), Tom (Jonny Warr), Josie (Petra Joan-Athene) and Michael (Abdul-Malik Janneh) have gotten used to there always being an empty chair in Mrs. Khan’s year five classroom. That is until it’s filled by a new arrival.
A quiet boy named Ahmet (Serkan Avlik).
The Boy at the Back of the Class at LOWRY
Arriving from Syria, Ahmet doesn’t speak English. His arrival causes a stir with the schoolchildren, prompting wild rumours to spread through the school about him from the school gossiper, Clarissa (Evie Weldon).
And it’s not just inside the school. Some of the parents complain about a refugee child arriving. This filters down to the children, confused about Ahmet’s situation.
Alexa and friends decide to dub themselves the A-Team. A for Ahmet, and seek to become his friends. But language barriers and bullying from the local terror, Brendan (Max Jordan) threaten to prevent the children from making a connection.
This prompts a journey of discovery as they try to learn everything they can about Ahmet. From his love of football to what food he likes. As his English improves, he is finally able to tell the story of how he came to this country and the sacrifices his family made.
When she learns that Ahmet is still separated from his parents, Alexa conspires with her friends to hatch a daring plan to reunite them. No matter how risky it is. This in turn leads them to London.
Fun-filled family friendly show
LOWRY boy at the back of the class
While still treating the subject matter seriously, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a fun-filled, family-friendly show with a sense of humour. It manages the difficult task of educating while entertaining.
With jokes, modern gags and Mission Impossible-style dance numbers, it’s a true delight that keeps all ages engaged.
A real strength of the show is the cast. Particularly the younger actors who effortlessly play nine-year-olds. They convincingly portray their innocence and imagination.
Strong cast performances
Serkan Avlik and Sasha Desouza-Willock both deliver wonderfully heartfelt performances, especially shining in their various monologues that narrate their character’s stories to the audience. It bridges the narrative perfectly.
Abdul-Malik Janneh gives a great comic twist as the nerdy Michael, while Petra Joan-Athene and Johnny Warr both get time to shine as Josie and Tom respectively.
Each cast member offers an incredible performance. Max Jordan is great in his role as the intimidating bully Brendan, and Evie Weldon makes a big impression on the audience with the small role of Clarissa.
Holding a dual role is a tough ask, particularly in a show like this. Yet Natasha Lewis shines as both Mrs Khan and Alexa’s mum.
In the smaller roles, Fedrat Sadat and Eleanor Patel both get a chance to show their versatility as numerous characters.
Costume and set designs
A great strength of the show is the costumes and set designs by Lily Arnold. They bring the performance alive with realistic outfits and locales.
From a schoolyard football pitch with lit-up goalposts, to supermarkets and the London Underground.
This combined with great lighting (by Ryan Day) and sound design (by Giles Thomas) works together perfectly to complete the production.
Each act is well-paced, with the first act establishing the characters and the arrival of Ahmet, while the second act builds towards the A-Team’s secret plan to help reunite Ahmet with his family.
Adapted by Nick Ahad and directed by Monique Touko
The show is adapted (by Nick Ahad) from the best-selling 2018 children’s novel of the same name by Onjali Q. Raúf.
Directed by Monique Touko, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a show about kindness, friendship and seeing the human side of the refugee crisis and with the simple yet powerful message that a voice can be given to the voiceless, simply by listening to their stories.
The Boy at the Back of the Class is showing at LOWRY until Saturday 18th April.
We have an exclusive £10 ticket offer, so don’t miss it!
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