A beautifully played, two handed emotional drama, a coming of age tale that reminds us how much media disinformation leads to mistaken beliefs, and that the truth may well be hidden.
Hannah, a Margate sixteen year old, knows no better than to believe her elders when told that so many of the problems in the town are caused by the immigrants, the asylum seekers. Hanna, a Srebrenica sixteen year old, views Margate as the promised land, far from the brutal war she has fled with her family. But why do so many of the locals hate her and her people?
Events bring the two together and prejudice falls away in the face of reality. Their love of pop music, their sixteen-year-old-girlness, gives them a stronger bond than the bigots and fascists would have them believe. But can it be allowed to last in the midst of so much hatred?
A drama that dates back to the early noughties, but feels entirely contemporary when you substitute Kosovan with Syrian, and replace EDL with ukip. Some things haven't changed, and common humanity remains the answer to the far right's rhetoric.
Both actors shine and there is real emotional intensity in some scenes. I found myself close to tears, and totally involved in the fates of the protagonists.
Highly recommended.
Hannah and Hanna is on in Assembly George Square Studios at 13.20 until the 30th.
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