I confess, devised student pieces often really don't work for me; but to every rule there is an exception, and this production is that. In spades. Based on a real event in which an 18 year old boy was sent to prison for having 50,000 indecent images of children on his computer, this play explores the impact on the boy's friends, family and community.
The devised script, coming as it does from a group of the right age, has a trully authentic voice which speaks to the issues that confront his friends in particular as they try to come to terms with the relevation about their friend. How can someone they have known for so long and so well have such an unknown side to their character? How should they react to him now? The unforced nature of the dialogue gives it an immediacy and power that really opens up the heart of the situation that they find themselves in.
The story is delivered by a cast with such a light and natural touch that the characters they portray become completely credible, whilst I was less convinced perhaps by the depiction of the mother through narrated segments, the pace and style of the rest of the play was masterfully handled.
You missed it at the fringe but look out for it, and this team, in future.