“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow’”. This Mary Anne Radmacher quote encapsulates what I believe to be the most significant message of the play Our Town Needs a Nandos.

This fantastic new production shows the lives and struggles of five teenage girls in a small town of small-minded people. Brought together by a group drama project in school, the girls’ relationships develop and we learn the truth about their lives, traumas, struggles and unseen courage. As a teenager, I found this play wonderful to watch. The resonating themes felt extremely relatable and were explored with honesty. The production was brilliantly funny with some hilarious one-liners, filling the theatre with laughter and balancing out some of the tougher themes.

The play was performed by only five cast members - Nadia Anim, Chloe Hughes, Mali O’Donnell, Kalli Tant and Jada-Li Warrican. These young actors, three of whom made their performance debut with this production, showcased their talent by performing a range of varying roles with energy, awareness and sensitivity - they were inspiring to watch. The world and external characters were seen solely through the eyes of the teenagers which was really refreshing to see and I felt it really validated teenage experiences and gave an accurate picture of their relationships and interactions. I found the characters to be really inspiring and courageous: sometimes through their refusal to accept defeat and adapt, but sometimes through showing vulnerability and accepting help. This is a wonderful, thought-provoking performance to watch, wickedly funny and beautifully real.

Technical aspects:
Not only was the writing impactful, the choreography was clearly well thought out, with the movement between scenes fluid. These transitions were matched well with music, which was fitting for the teenage experience, and also contrasted with the lack of music in some of the other scenes. The blocking of the characters was also interesting, where sometimes they would have their backs to the audience in some scenes. This made it feel real and not as performative, as if the audience were observing a realistic teenage experience.

I felt that the lighting had a real importance and added greatly to scenes, highlighting key characters in their asides with spotlights, and giving colour schemes complementary to the events on-stage. I really appreciated the subtle hints at themes with the lighting and the result of this overall was a very visually-pleasing set design that had impact and added to the plot. Overall impression With hard-hitting writing, amazing chemistry and an important message, Our Town Needs a Nandos certainly had an impact on the audience.

Speaking to others after the performance, it was impossible to find anyone that didn’t have anything but positivity to say about it. Its thought-provoking themes and incredible wit make it an entertaining performance that I believe is a must-see for teenagers and adults alike.

Review by Tara, Alexandra, Freya and Anya Year 11 Liverpool Blue Coat School

 

Our Town Needs A Nandos is at the Everyman from Thu 23 Jun to Sat 2 Jul 2022