Many years ago as a teacher I dealt with a falling out between former best friends, each convinced the other didn’t like them any more. As so often, the dispute arose from both teenagers’ insecurities and misinterpretation of each others’ actions and words. Even as adults, we are so often inclined to think the worst, both of ourselves and of others’ opinions of us – and for anyone who has ever doubted themselves and felt inferior to someone else, ‘Burying Your Brother in the Pavement’ is essential watching – as well as being a thoroughly intriguing piece of theatre.

For the central theme is that we never know what’s going on in someone else’s head, however close we think we are to them. Even when it’s your brother. And he’s just died from a broken bottle severing an artery, out on the streets of the local estate which is notorious for violence, drug abuse and social problems.

Tom doesn’t quite know how to  react – and as he flees from his brother’s funeral to sleep rough at the scene of his brother’s death, we see what’s in his head: both the reality of the families who live there and the impressions and feelings Tom experiences, whether it’s of members of his  family becoming indistinguishable from the front room furniture, to the pavement elephants that haunt his sleep.

The bringing to life of Tom’s nightmares is a wonderful piece of physical theatre, something Pink Cow Theatre is becoming well known for, involving the ensemble cast who also portray a wide variety of local characters including mums, estate agents trying to convince customers the area is up and coming, and Tom’s school mates. Music and sound effects added to the atmosphere, and the simple set was well designed and perfect for the story to be told.

Tom himself, portrayed by Harrison Hartup, is on stage practically the whole show and Harrison shows himself more than able to take on the challenge of this demanding role. He engaged the audience throughout, including scenes in which he took on very long monologues – well done Harrison.

However, the rest of the principal actors supported him so well. Jack Perry as Tom’s dead brother Luke was mesmerising – for long periods he was on stage observing and reacting yet not speaking or interacting – very difficult to do convincingly, yet such is Jack’s talent that he managed to show us his thoughts and feelings and engaged us without taking attention away from the other characters onstage.

Dominic Craggs convincingly portrayed the character development of Tight, initially a typical street ‘wideboy’ selling purloined travelcards, who reveals truths about Luke which Tom has not suspected. Immy Netherway is perfectly cast as Tom’s sister Courtney, and the scene in which he reaches out to try to get to know her better is played very movingly.

However, this play is not just emotional – there are some laugh out loud moments, such as the conversation between two (it has to be said) not very bright police officers (Laura Hedgecox and Lucas Reiner) and the sheer range of hilarious and diverse characters played by Karl Whitmore. I also enjoyed Olly Fry as a flamboyant town planning officer and Finley Revert’s turn as a terrified apprentice funeral director.

If you want to see a story well-told, gain some insight into one boy’s grieving process, understand a bit more about human nature, and enjoy a really entertaining piece of theatre, I can wholeheartedly recommend ‘Burying Your Brother in the Pavement’.