There's a story well worth telling here. For most of us, asylum seekers and refugees are little more than statistics on a Government report, or the occasional news story when something goes wrong.
All the Queen's Children aims to give the names behind the numbers a voice. Although none of the characters' lives is explored as much as we'd like we learn enough to know the hardships suffered on a daily basis by those in search of a better life.
Falling foul of the unscrupulous smugglers who help them reach the UK, the children arrive only to discover that their lives are almost worse than before. Meanwhile, three privileged middle class English teenagers go on a gap year jolly across Africa, to illustrate the chasm between life at home and abroad.
What triumphs most here (aside from the central premise of making the unseen visible) is the direction. Impressively uncliched, it allows the young company to work both as a physical theatre chorus and individual storytellers, and remains engaging throughout.
By Kelly Apter
13 August 2010
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