In keeping with their philosophy of offering plays that are tailored to and relevant for a particular age group the egg has staged a new play by Bristol playwright Margarita Sidirokastriti, which imagines the journey of a young refugee from an unspecified African (or North African) country unaccompanied by family or friend as they make their way to Europe.

By leaving out all the surrounding political and social questions that this urgent story of the age throws up Ms Sidirokastriti engages a young audience on a level that neither condescends nor underestimates and does so with issues they can easily relate to. She has been cleverly selective in her approach to the subject by not trying to do too much. The audience is not drawn into sympathy for the plight of the little refugee, which was in any case not elaborated or explained, but rather gently directed on the road to empathy for the dangers and hardships that someone of their own age might undergo on such a life changing experience.

The audience is invited to consider what they would take on such a journey. Much amusement at an adult doing some silly, childish things, but equally I noticed that slightly bemused laughter of recognition at the story-telling possibilities of familiar, everyday things and imaginative modes they will be familiar with. So, for example, the child in the story is represented by no more than the fingers of the storyteller as they walk across the varied landscapes which are drawn in real time on sheets of A2.

The piece has until now been performed by the playwright who was, yesterday, unfortunately indisposed due to illness, so the storytelling duties fell upon the capable shoulders of Tim Bell who showed, were it at all doubted, that the story was in its essence free of any gender perspective.  This was about a young person, their trials, hopes, good sense, perseverance and indomitable spirit.

It is a little play with big themes that can best be explained by bringing them down to the personal, the individual, the relevant and the understandable: the boredom of the transit camp, the distrust of an offer of help from a suspicious individual, the apprehension of the death trap masquerading as a boat to freedom and promise of a new life.  All of which gives a young audience a point of reference when, as is sadly inevitable, they see an item on the news which will no longer be part of an alien ‘grown ups’ world, but part of their own which they can begin to understand on the only level which ultimately matters – the individual.  Graham Wyles   22nd June 2017