Phoebe Bakker
Neither Here Nor There is an autobiographical show that blends together verbatim theatre with shadow box puppetry, tackling the themes of belonging and identity. We follow the individual stories of Sunny, second-generation Chinese–Spanish, and Isabell, Danish–Nigerian–Italian, as they navigate growing up with different parts of their mixed heritage, which can feel like different worlds. They wrestle within themselves as others influence their own feelings towards their identity, causing a questioning of their position within society.
There’s some really beautiful imagery that’s spread across the world of the play that permeates into the audience. We walk into the room with the individual stories that have largely inspired the themes of the play. Videos of second-generation immigrants and other mixed-heritage people talking about their own experiences growing up and fitting in. The space that’s created feels serene. We’re deeply invested because it feels like walking into an exhibit of sorts, and as we sit in the audience, I do feel a sense of being held. This is added to by the use of the shadow box. There’s a lovely, childlike play that grows from this box. It feels fitting given the subject matter of the show and pairs well. When it’s used, it does punctuate scenes and emotions, captivating us and giving a whimsical nature.
Where this falters is its lack of specificity. Its relevance as a choice lies within the Chinese cultural background of one of the performers, but then the generalisation of this application to both the performers, despite different backgrounds, didn’t land. Equally, the rules of the shadow puppet world never feel particularly established, and I found it hard to follow the story in the level of detail I feel like they were trying to get across. The characters that were shown within the box had their own voices in certain parts, but in others, the actors would speak for them. While not overly distracting, it did mean that at times it took me a second to catch up, and ultimately didn’t create a need for the storytelling being told through that medium. The story would not have been impacted had that element been removed. It was a beautiful design choice, but I think it ultimately lacked functionality.
Parts of the play felt stitched together clunkily. Times when actors shared the space to show convergence in themes actually felt too dissimilar that it became overwhelming to try and keep both in mind at the same time. There were attempts to have synchronicity that didn’t land and showed a lack of cohesion in the script without building on the connection between these two. Individual scenes explored some of the thematic premises further, but never delved too deeply and moved on hurriedly, often times repeating previous ideas without expanding or growing.
Neither Here Nor There is a playground that invites fun and entertainment. It is clear that there is a lot of heart at the center of this show, but the stylistic choices create too much dissonance, creating a fragmented piece of work.
Performances of Neither Here Nor There have now concluded at Voila! Theatre Festival 2025.
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
