Mia and the Fish

Yew Tree Youth Theatre premiered their Connections 2025 play ‘Mia and the Fish’ at the Cluntergate Centre.  The story is a modern retelling of the ancient Indian myth ‘Manu and the Fish’.  In this play we meet Mia, a young refugee girl, who along with her sister, Halima, was washed up on the shores of England.  Against a backdrop of a freak winter heatwave with the climate emergency becoming more critical Mia struggles to make friends and adjust to life away from her homeland and family.  She then happens upon and nurtures a talking fish which she names Samaki.  Samaki quickly becomes Mia’s friend and confidante all whilst the fish continues to grow at an alarming pace.  Though Mia is mocked for talking to a fish, Samaki soon becomes the key to her friend’s survival in the face of the imminent extinction of humanity. 

When the play opens, we meet Mia (Izzy Cowie) and her sister, Halima (Robin Boughton) coming ashore from their small boat and claiming refugee status.  From the outset it was clear that projections, light and sound were going to support the performance and throughout the audience were treated to some clever techniques and changes particularly in the gang scene and the amazing storm.  Cowie was a very sensitive Mia for whom the audience could see her struggles even if they had no life experience to understand them.  Boughton playing the more confident of the sisters was passionate in her portrayal of a girl wanting to fit in with her new surroundings and make new friends.

Matthew Tordoff played the arrogant and unlikeable character, Paz.  His strong delivery and hard-hitting statements were done with great confidence.  Ben Brown was an eager Faiz, desperate to please whilst also shouldering the responsibilities of being a young carer for his disabled mother.  Brown ensured his character stumbled over his words and was almost wringing his hands in an effort to be liked and popular.  Popularity came easy to Nova whose jovial and friendly nature was well portrayed by Alfie Cowburn.

Amelia Sorby as conservationist Eleni gave some impassioned speeches and clearly sought to challenge the misconceptions in the group with her articulate delivery.  The group of friends was completed with Anika (Amelia Lee), Talia (Amani Khan) and Zuri (Freya Guppy) all supporting the production with strong acting and never losing character as the story moved on.

Samaki (the fish) was ‘played’ by Ash Kitchen and Fred Firth who used both voices to enable the pace of piece of to keep moving.  There was some excellent puppetry from these two who moved from a very small fish to a huge beast of fish moving around the room.  There was beautiful movement throughout the play with the young people using their physicality to present different themes and emotions, in particular the mounting of the protest was most creative.  The costumes were of turquoise and sand tones which worked well with the lighting. 

The play sought to raise awareness of important issues including deep sea mining and climate change, but also highlighted that at the heart of the refugee issue is that those who have arrived here have because they have lost their homes and their lives through no fault of their own.  The young people met those challenging themes head on and gave an emotional and well-developed portrayal of the story.  The sound, light and projections were very cleverly managed and the performance space was well used.  As always, the confident and clear diction (with no microphones) supported the audience to understand the plot lines and engage with the characters.  It was beautifully done and a great piece of work from all involved.  Congratulations to director Sarah Osborne, assisted by John Broadbent and all the cast and crew including those who made and source props and costumes.

I will leave readers with a line from the play “Small boats are less dangerous than small minds”.

Anyone interested in seeing ‘Mia and the Fish’ and other Connections performances can join YTYT at Cast, Doncaster on 29th April, 2025 www.castindoncaster.com/whats-on/connections-festival-2025

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