“Following the hugely successful film, John Boyne’s extraordinary novel of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has finally been adapted for stage. From the producers who have previously presented Goodnight Mister Tom and Swallows and Amazons, the format is identical and does not disappoint. It is an emotive tale of an unlikely friendship between two innocent boys . . .the story is seen through the eyes of Bruno, the nine-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and devastating consequences. . . “

“Back in 1963 what were we doing? Basking on our sofas watching Lassie and the Dick van Dyke Show? Listening to Peter Paul and Mary sing Puff the Magic Dragon perhaps? The scary days of nuclear profusion were still with us, but we had reached a watershed moment when the idealism of the 1960s finally dawned and we could embrace the idea of Peace as an end in itself. While the atomic bomb and the Iron Curtain still loomed, a new un-conscripted generation demanded and expected new social freedoms. The idea of war in itself finally seemed absurd. . . . ”

” . . . This was a treat in sophisticated blending of simple elements; actors inventively using a set covered in plastic bottles – the flotsam of our shoreline – used as both set and props. A quick witted, entertaining and purposeful live sound accompaniment added pace, depth and, in places, music to two young and very focused performances by Katie Sherrard and Adam Farrell. I saw in it a fable of lost and lacking opportunities for youth amid the hazards of contemporary life. Concisely told and beautifully revealed. “

” . . . The acting is as sharp as the dialogue, with the two central characters, played with relish by a peart Gemma Whelan and Sean Michael Verey, being given enough fleshly form to avoid being mere ciphers for ideas. Their innocent depravity, unchecked since hatched in a loving and supportive relationship is a joy to see. The party scene with a streetfull. of guests is the work of half an hour packed into five minutes by two virtuoso performances. . . “