NO ONE. IS YOUR FRIEND (Southwark Playhouse/Future Voices)

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnzPUmVAYzM

Available until: Unknown

In case you’re wondering, the full stop in the title is supposed to be there. It’s used consistently and I think it’s an emphasis thing. I don’t think it’s possible to use italics and underlining on youtube. I’ve never seen it, anyway. And we all know what CAPITAL LETTERS mean.

This is another play from the insanely-good young playwrights who had plays filmed as part of Future Voices 2020. Usually, they’re done onstage, but it wasn’t possible this year. I don’t know if they knew it would be filmed instead of staged before they wrote it. The plays definitely all work well for film.

This play, written by Eden Ehioghae, isn’t really aimed at me. It’s aimed at the happy children in the lower years of secondary school who think life is great. That’s not me. That wasn’t me even when I was at school. It’s tough being perceived as different and when you’re a gay, disabled mixed race guy, you’re perceived as different even when you haven’t got your make-up on. I agree with nearly everything the film says about friendships, but that was my experience from the start. It actually got better in Year 11 because I knew I wouldn’t be doing my A Levels there. But not everyone has friends, or even ‘friends’. Some people just have people who aren’t 100% guaranteed to be horrible every time you see them.

This is a great play because it’s a very realistic and incisive play about being a teenager, from the point of view of teenagers. It describes some of the emotions and fears really well and brings back a lot of memories. Not exactly good memories, but good plays don’t have to make you happy. A lot of plays are intended to discuss difficult feelings and make you feel uncomfortable and make you think. This play does all those things.

It will resonate with teens who are going through it and with adults who have been through it – and are in some ways still going through it. Things don’t always get easier when you’re an adult. It will also serve as a warning to younger teens to be a bit careful how much they open up and to protect themselves.

I like the fact that one of the characters does still believe in friendship and trust. This provides a more balanced view and will hopefully help people to be cautious rather than paranoid like me. It’s not a lot of fun being paranoid so don’t try it. I’m sure some friendships are real so there’s no need for everyone watching to panic and drop all their friends. But a bit of caution… that’s sensible whatever age you are. If only I could work out which shop to buy it from.