Refugee Boy at the Northern Stage Review
Refugee Boy
Northern Stage, Newcastle
18-22 March 2014
Reviewed by Amy Jones
Tonight I’ve been taken on a journey at the Northern Stage with the production of Refugee Boy – a play based on the Benjamin Zephaniah novel. Upon entering the theatre you are immediately drawn to the set which is a mix of suitcases, fences, and ruins of buildings, this forms the basis for the whole play. The set was very cleverly put together and really emphasised one of the themes of the play – if you move from place to place so often, where do you call home? The show ran continually for almost 90 minutes therefore the set remained the same, however with the use of spot lighting and dramatic music the setting was genius!
As you can imagine the subject material at times dealt with some really challenging material, such as loss of family, people being torn away from places they don’t want to leave, bullying, and the main theme that underpins these issues… politics. Whilst at times this was really intense, and emotional. there were a lot of positive messages that came through in the story – friendship, kindness, and love. It was really easy to lose yourself in this play and get caught up in the story, you definitely feel emotionally involved with the characters.
The acting really was very impressive, and brought the play to life. The performance of the actor who played Alem (the main character, and title role) was particularly impressive. He takes you through so many different emotions throughout the play. Curiosity at this brand new world he finds himself in; anger at being separated from his family then again anger at the increasingly frustrating political situation he finds himself apart of, and finally hope that his generation may bring about lasting change for the future.
The rest of the cast were also brilliant, this was very much indicative of a creative director. The five strong cast were always involved within the production, even at times when they were not in a speaking part; they were very much part of the play on the periphery. The use of space and movement was genius.
Refugee boy was a fantastic play and I would highly recommended this, definitely a 5/5 star, almost faultless play and would happily watch this play for a second time!
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £12 to £24. For more information or to book tickets call the Box Office on 0191 230 5151 or book online here.
Northern Stage, Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 7RH
