Behna opened in its new home in Wednesbury last night, after a preview performance on Tuesday.

It is lovely to see it performing once again. I was at the preview performance on Tuesday and it felt familiar, but different. For a start there are two new cast members, then there are some small changes to the script and, of course, a new kitchen.

I’m always amazed that when you see different actors in the same roles what different things they bring. You hear lines that you missed before, different parts of the characters are emphasised in different ways and so the shading of the character shifts. Overall the play remains the same, it’s just told in a different way.

The kitchen is different (though the walls and units are the same colour) it’s a different shape, so it forces a different staging and again everything subtly shifts, the play remains the same, but it moves in a different way.

The same is true of the tweaks that Sonia has applied to the script. Some are to deal with no longer quite so topical references, some are to clarify the through line of a character, over all it is the same, but it has shifted.

There are performances from now until the 15th April. If you haven’t seen it – don’t miss it, it really is worth the effort. If you have seen it, get along and see it again, and enjoy changes!

For ticket information, contac The Public

Steve Johnstone