Us/Them

This “astonishingly assured” (The Guardian) drama comes to New Zealand following sell-out seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London’s National Theatre.

Based on the experiences of children who lived through the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis, Us/Them – the break-out hit show from Brussels youth theatre company BRONKS – portrays extreme events but through a child’s eyes. Despite the potentially harrowing subject matter, the experience is naively wonderful and unsettlingly funny.

Two children sketch a map onto a wide bare stage. They are intent, urgent. It has to be accurate. Part of the staggering achievement of Us/Them is that its two performers are able to start with a simple physical act of abstract map-making and open up an entire world of the mind. Thrilling, often humorous and with a deft lightness of touch.