If the last few weeks have taught us anything about drama, it’s that there is a passionate audience for realistic and socially engaged story telling. Before the nation was gripped about why a teenage boy from a loving family would murder a classmate in “Adolescence”, we got Pink Cow Theatre’s performance of “Brutal” about how a teenage boy could get involved in gang culture.  

Danny (Freddie Hollis) seemingly lived a normal life with his family – mum, dad, siblings – until fate dealt them a blow. We watch as the repercussions of grief affect all the family members differently, but Danny turns to a new family in the world of gang culture. Jake (Harrison Hartup) leads Danny step by step into dealing drugs and more, and we also see the consequences of this darker world on friendships, communities and the transition from childhood to adulthood.

The staging cleverly used a large chorus of black and neon figures, moving within the audience with menace and alarm. “Brutal” is a collaboration between Pink Cow Theatre (largely based at the Apollo Theatre in Newport) and the Isle of Wight College Performing Arts department. This is theatre to educate – not just the audience about societal issues but the students explored these Brechtian devices to great impact in the darkness of the Anthony Minghella Theatre. The audience were far from comfortable throughout.

An hour is barely long enough to fully explore the impact that gang culture is having on lives in our communities – and we should not assume that the Isle of Wight is somehow immune. Danny lives with an ordinary family before he turns towards gangs, just as Jamie Miller did in Jack Thorn’s “Adolescence”.  In fact, Mish Whitmore’s script has much in common with many of Jack Thorn’s earlier plays (Stuart: A life backwards, Burying Your Brother in the Pavement and Bunny). The Q&A with the director and performers was well worth staying for afterwards, with the audience clearly supporting the use of theatre performances to extend out into island schools.

The IW Storytelling Festival has firmly planted its feet in the annual calendar every February half-term, but don’t mistakenly assume that their events are limited to tales of fairies, unicorns and dinosaurs. Hats off to Pink Cow Theatre: on an island brim full of young theatrical talent they resolutely dare to turn away from the established childhood musicals and turn towards the gritty, stark and socially-engaged issues of the present day. After ‘His Name is Zak’ and now ‘Brutal’ I cannot wait to see what issues they tackle next.

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Reviewed by Vix Lowthian