Words by Daisy Game
The latest offering from The Bristol Old Vic Young Company, There’s Nobody Else in The World and the World was Made for Me is a whip smart, highly entertaining show which tackles our flawed education system head on.
Set in a ‘re-education centre’ deep beneath the surface of the Earth (dystopian vibes abound), Nobody Else stars a motley crew of inmates – each of whom has been banished from Regular School until they can learn the error of their ways (whatever those ways may be: in classic Breakfast Club style, the kids don’t address their sins until pushed to do so). Curiously, there are no adults present, and the group is instead kept in check – or thereabouts – by highly-strung ‘Facilitator’, Christian. When a mysterious earthquake puts the centre’s lift out of action, trapping the teens underground, they’re forced to come up with a game plan (stat). And so the fun begins.
Nobody Else is a punchy piece performed by a talented bunch. Performances are confident and engaging, as is the story itself; it’s clear that the Company have had a blast devising the show, and their enthusiasm is infectious. On my way out of the Weston, I overhear a fellow audience member declare that “we should never underestimate young people”; the show’s message, it seems, has pushed firmly through.
Nobody Else champions young people and their resilience in the face of a world that prefers to punish rather than to pardon. Exciting, important theatre.
There’s Nobody Else in The World and the World was Made for Me is playing at The Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio until Saturday 14 January. Tickets from £8, available at bristololdvic.org.uk
Featured image credit: Chelsey Cliff
