THE BOY AT THE BACK OF THE CLASS
Mayflower Studios – Southampton until 14th March 2026 then continuing tour
Review: Pat Hayward – 12th March 202
Amidst fanfares, rapturous applause and enthusiastic, energetic, younger people the 2024 comedic drama arrives in Southampton at Mayflower Studios. Along the way it has picked up an Olivier Award nomination in the category of ‘Best Family Show’ – just one of four shows in that category. It is easy to understand why The Boy At The Back Of The Class is such a success and Nick Ahad’s stage adaptation of the 2018 novel by Onjali Qatara Raúf continues to gather a huge following.
The Boy at the Back of the Class follows nine year old Alexa (Sasha Desouza-Willock) and her friends, Josie (Petra Joan-Athene), Michael (Abdul-Malik Janneh) and Tom (Jonny Warr) as they meet Ahmet (Serkan Avlik), a new boy, who sits quietly at the back of the class. Ahmet is a Syrian boy only able to speak Kurdish. They learn he is a refugee, a word they have never heard before, and soon plan a mission to help reunite Ahmet with his parents. Alexa and her gang (the A-Team) work hard to get Ahmet to open up and help him with his communication skills wiith simple things like playing football. However, there are negative elements in the class portrayed by Brendan the Bully (Max Jordan) and outside of class there is an old bigoted teacher and Brendan’s own parents.
The cast of children are all played by adults which I expected to distract from the story, but no it gradually began to sit comfortably with me and I guess from the audience reactions with the children in the audience (of which there were many – even on a school night). Alexa is the leader in every respect, becoming the bridge between the class and the audience, confiding with the audience and standing up against any little injustice that might occur. A stand out moment is at the end of Act One when Ahmet comes to front of stage and addresses the audience in the language that he is beginning to master, English, and emphasises that “This is my story”.
The director is Monique Touko, the winner of the 2022 Stage Debut Award for Best Director and it is amazing the vigour and panache that she brings to this production. There is never a second to catch your breath and amidst all of the action she manages to reinforce the fact that refugees are, like us, individuals with families, pets and homes but all of these have been torn apart by events that are totally outside of their control. Touko understands the innocence of children and she has got the cast to tell the story from that perspective, that of an innocent nine year old. She encourages the older members of the audience to put to one side their experience, views and perspectives and look at the world through the eyes of these nine year old kids.
The underlying message is one for us all, ‘it doesn’t hurt to be kind’, and we should be welcoming to everyone that needs safe haven. But there is a danger of an underlying message that all borders should be removed – nice idea, but could easily be accepted by innocent minds without realising the longer term implications. The success of this story lies in the innocence of the children through whom the tale is told and it is important that there is a proper balance.
It is a very different two hours in the theatre. I am glad I have experienced it, I totally support its intentions, but I have concerns about the impact of its underlying political tones and I hope the accompanying teachers in the audience take time to balance these issues when back in class. But for most of us, the best way is for each of us to draw our own conclusions by going along to see the play at Mayflower Studios until 14th March.
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