Like We Were Born to Move: A sharp, witty, compassionate depiction of young people’s lives in Ireland

Like We Were Born to Move

Peacock stage, Abbey Theatre

★★★★☆

How should a teenager cope when her mother has left her all alone to navigate the world? That’s among the myriad of questions facing Luna and their friends in this heart-rending new play for the 2023 National Youth Theatre.

Luna’s mother has left them because she “needs some space” – which, Luna says, “is fair enough”, except for the fact that they are a teenager. Luna takes shelter in a houseshare among friends, and seeks a new guardian, “just so I can get a tattoo”, all while grappling with their feelings of abandonment but attempting to remain defiant.

Meanwhile, the plot also follows a large group of friends who are trying to navigate their sexualities, relationships and early careers.

Director Niall Cleary and playwright Eimear Hussey worked with an ensemble of 16 young actors and four young designers from youth theatres across Ireland over the past 18 months to create Like We Were Born to Move.

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Hussey’s writing is sharp, witty and compassionate as she depicts the life of young people in Ireland, post-pandemic, and all the perils that come with it: climate anxiety, the housing crisis, the rising cost of living, the ever-present pull of emigration.

This group of friends are vastly different, with a diverse array of identities – straight, gay, non-binary and cisgender, religious, atheist, working and middle class – but they are united largely in their passion for dance, and all show an unwavering empathy for one another as they traverse their often difficult and complicated circumstances.

Developing so many characters in just two hours is a difficult task for any playwright, but Hussey manages to differentiate each unique personality in several short scenes of dialogue that offer revealing vignettes into their lives.

The characters interact with one another with vulnerability and honesty, verbalising their concerns among friends and seeking help and advice with a refreshing ease. Together they discuss how to re-enter the dating world after Covid-19, if they should go to university, which career path to follow and whether to have children or not, to marry or not, to stay or to emigrate.

How should the boyfriend of a potentially lesbian girl handle his break-up with her after it dawns on him that they haven’t been sleeping together for months? Should the ecoconscious warrior whose mother works on an oil rig live with friends, alone or in a commune? Another is anxious about turning 17, “you know, because of all the songs…”

Their conversations are full of amusing Gen Z humour and slang, but the message is deeper, arguing for interdependence and free acceptance of love, despite the possible risks this brings.

What emotions the characters cannot convey through words, they express through dance.

The result is a resonant, entertaining experience from a dynamic group of new talent. The message is that when you’re not sure where to turn or what to believe in, believe in each other.

Like We Were Born to Move continues at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin 1, until Saturday, August 19th