REVIEW: The Bus gets the thumbs up from young Kilkenny audiences

I went to see Barnstorm Theatre’s play ‘The Bus’ at the Watergate last week. It was a show about being the new kid at school, but it was all set on the bus journey to and from school and wow was it great!

There were various characters with different personalities, like the girl obsessed with Taylor Swift who danced and sang and was like a teacher’s pet. There was her best friend who was so talkative and had so many dramatic stories to tell. There was the cool guys who sat down the back and then the quiet boy who carried his pet hamster in his pocket.

The play started with the new boy trying to figure out all the social structures - who was who, where was it okay to sit without getting beaten up and who not to sit next to. Over the course of a few days, the new boy figured out a few things but not how to sit up the back with the cool group. And even get pushed around by the solo bully who stole everyone’s lunch.

It was very challenging for him to find his place, because he liked the quite kid, but everyone teased him, he wanted to hang out with the cool kids in the back but the nerdy smart kids were more welcoming. It wasn’t until everyone had to pull together to overcome the solo bully, because they were sick of being hunger after their lunches were taken that everyone become friends and realised despite what group they were in, they were all friends.

There was some really fun parts of the play to watch, like how they ran after the bus, without the bus moving - they made it look so real. Or the fight scene, which was done in slow motion. Also when they would swing, jump and step over the seats on the bus — it looks like lots of fun.

I really enjoyed it, especially as they all became friends at the end.