We Are The Best Review

So on a sunny Saturday afternoon I made my way down to the matinee performance of We Are The Best at Live Theatre. This also being my first visit to this lovely venue. Read on for my We Are The Best Review.

Lukas Moodysson’s cult film, based on his wife Coco’s acclaimed comic book Never Goodnight, has now been rewritten by Rebecca Glendenning. Admittedly I’ve not read the book nor seen the film but looked forward to it nevertheless.

Writer Rebecca Glendenning says;

’It’s a love letter to the time before you start to learn what real life is and before all the boring admin of life sets in. When it’s just you and your friends against the world and the incredible power and invincibility that gives us. It’s about the pockets of joy these friends create just by being unapologetically themselves and being each other’s biggest champions.’

After seeing the play I can agree it is just that! 

This is a hugely enjoyable show about the naivety of youth, friendships, having a voice and of course boys! With some guitar and drums thrown in it’s a winner. But in keeping with the theme who cares if you don’t like it anyway!

We are immersed into the story from the start by becoming part of the audience for the year 8 dress rehearsal for the local talent show. When Bobo (Bethany Morris) and Klara (Bridget Marumo) are found to be too political in their act they need to find a new way to express their opinions. Queue the local youth club and start of a band! As with all bands they need a singer and the addition of shy Christian Hedwig (Elena Porter) brings together this trio. 

All three lead characters are played brilliantly by this young cast, especially as this was across a full two hour production. It flowed well and was at a good pace throughout. 

Marumo depicts her bossy character well, always seeming to know best, hard, upfront and bold. She leads the trio in this exploration in their journey to express themselves. 

Morris is her best friend, displaying an agreeable in nature attitude and happy to let Marumo take the lead even if it means she misses out. We see more of her personal life than the others and what she has to manage in the background with a party girl parent since leaving her dad. I did particularly like the moments where the scenes would freeze and we would get a commentary on a situation or thought. Morris adeptly grows throughout the play in her character wonderfully.

Porter portays the shy girl with an angelic choir voice. Coming from a stricter Christian background we see her grow friendships that help her to come out of her shell and express herself more, albeit still in the background of the other two. She also showed that she could be punk like and still respect her upbringing within the church. While not the loudest character, I was naturally endeared towards her. 

A shout out of course to our other three supporting actors Anna Bolton, Stacey Ghent and Beruce Khan, playing multiple roles throughout. All brought humour in varying degrees and played their roles wonderfully.

This play was a really enjoyable coming of age play. It wasn’t about having a dramatic ending. It’s about young teens finding themselves, gaining an identity, giving themselves a voice and not caring what others thought. We saw the power of friendships, how boys can get in the way (occasionally) and despite what was happening in their own lives having an escape.

What a play to open the Live Theatre season with and for my first visit to the venue one that i hugely enjoyed. 

We Are The Best! from Thursday 26 May to Saturday 18 June promises a great night of theatre. Tickets on sale now priced at £10 to £24 with concessions from £6.  To book tickets and to find out more contact Live Theatre’s Box Office on (0191) 232 1232 or visit www.live.org.uk.

Approx. 2hrs plus interval

Age rating: 13+

Contains strong language, extremely loud music, adult themes (including misgendering, abusive relationships and sexism), strobe lighting and haze.

Note: This production is made for adults but also offers a rare opportunity to cross generations. So, if you have a young person who fancies a high energy, great night at the theatre remember TEENAGERS GO FREE!*

*applies to previews Thu 26 – Tue 31 May plus Tue 7 & Tue 14 Jun.

FREE post show talk
MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM: Thu 9 Jun after the 7:30pm show

The performance on Wed 15 Jun, 7.30pm will be socially distanced

BSL performance (7 Jun)

Audio Described

Captioned performance (8 Jun)

Venue: Main Auditorium

Read more news from Live Theatre here. Thanks for reading our We Are The Best Review. Read other reviews here.