★★★★

“McAndrew’s writing is sharp and empathetic”

Opening Soho Theatre’s New Theatre season, Little Brother is a darkly comic portrait of two siblings bound by love, guilt, and the impossible weight of care. In a country where stories of the NHS’s decline feel almost routine, writer Eoin McAndrew turns that familiar crisis inward, exploring how systemic failure plays out in the intimate space between those who are sick and those who must keep them alive.

The story centres on Niall, a young man in recovery following an act of self-immolation, and his older sister Brigid, drafted into the exhausting role of carer with little idea where to start. Their relationship, unfolding over the course of Niall’s recovery, forms the beating heart of the play — fraught, funny, and unbearably tender.

McAndrew’s writing is sharp and empathetic, capturing both the absurdity and the agony of navigating a system that can feel more bureaucratic than humane. Some of the play’s most affecting moments lie in its portrayal of how dehumanising treatment can be: Niall is told how desperately he needs help, only to learn there’s a twelve-month waiting list; he’s restricted from watching films that involve fire; and his sister is cautioned more about her language than given guidance on how to support him. McAndrew mines these absurdities for both laughs and quiet despair. It’s a bleak world, but never a joyless one.

At times, the script veers into overt commentary on the state of the NHS, moments where the play briefly preaches what it otherwise shows so effectively, but it mostly remains grounded in the human cost: the fumbling attempts of two damaged people trying, and often failing, to understand each other.

Cormac McAlinden and Catherine Rees anchor the production beautifully as Niall and Brigid, bringing real warmth and volatility to their scenes as siblings who love one another but are often at the end of their tether. McAlinden’s fragile charm makes Niall easy to root for even at his most self-sabotaging, while Rees captures Brigid’s fatigue and frustration without ever losing her compassion. Supporting player Laura Dos Santos makes the most of a smaller role, while Conor O’Donnell is a genuine scene-stealer as Brigid’s awkward on-again, off-again boyfriend, Michael Doran — his emotionally stunted banter providing some of the biggest laughs of the night. The costume design (Ellen Rey De Castro) complements his performance perfectly, adding further humour through a few playful, telling choices.

Emma Jordan’s direction keeps everything grounded, allowing the dark comedy to land without undercutting its emotional truth. Her restraint pays off in the more shocking moments, which feel all the more authentic for their understatement.

The ambitious set design (Zoë Hurwitz) cleverly divides the stage into four distinct rooms — each stark and bleak, yet shaped differently to create a cross-section of domestic life. Jordan uses this to her advantage, making scenes feel claustrophobic one moment and open the next. The cold blues and fluorescent strip lighting (Bethany Gupwell) provide a constant reminder of the sterile hospital world that haunts, but rarely helps, Niall’s recovery. All of this is underpinned by a largely effective sound design (Katie Richardson), which underscores key transitions with a low, menacing pulse, subtly heightening the sense of urgency as the play hurtles toward its finale.

A compelling production, Little Brother is a darkly comic study of care and co-dependence — as funny as it is quietly devastating. McAndrew, Jordan and their cast craft a portrait of sibling love tested by mental health and the buckling state apparatus that can no longer support it, delivering a play that feels both painfully current and profoundly human.

LITTLE BROTHER

Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★

“It is certainly a story that must be told”

The cruel irony of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play “Little Brother”, adapted from the Guinean writer, Ibrahima Balde’s memoir, is that Ibrahima was initially denied a visa by the Home Office to visit the United Kingdom so he could attend the opening night. They were “not satisfied… that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit”. Fortunately, the decision has now been reversed, yet Wertenbaker poignantly inserted the statement of facts into the epilogue, neatly and affectingly rounding off the true-life story of the horrors of migration.

Ibrahima Balde’s story charts his journey across borders, deserts and seas from Guinea to mainland Europe on his quest to find his younger brother. In 2018, towards the end of his odyssey, he met writer and journalist Amets Arzallus Antia in the Basque country that borders France and Spain, and there the search for his brother turned into a ten-month search for the words that would convey his experiences. “My friend, life is not that easy to tell” Ibrahima said to Amets during their first encounter. Knowing that his tale is only one of countless others the world over makes it uneasy listening too.

This adaptation is a stark retelling of the facts. It avoids both sentimentality and lecturing. As a result, however, it lacks the emotional build up needed to fully bring home the horrors of the situation. It is only late in the day, when we feel that Ibrahima’s life is on the line, that we become fully invested in his plight. Only then does Blair Gyabaah (who plays Ibrahima – alongside a supporting cast of four who multi-role as the dozens of other characters) realise the dynamics and breadth of emotion needed to lift the account from narration into a drama. For the most part we are spoon fed the details in a journalistic fashion.

But what a journal it is. We get a fair bit of his background, growing up in a village in the West African country of Guinea, helping his father sell shoes at a street stall while dreaming of becoming a truck driver. Even from a young age, he always felt alone and far away from home, a state of mind heightened by the sudden death of his father. When his younger brother, Alhassane, disappears heading for Europe, Ibrahima leaves everything behind to try to find him and bring him back, risking his own life on his epic journey. We are shown the different customs, languages, landscapes and challenges. But each chapter is a stepping stone, and as we move on quickly to the next, we barely have time to get to know the other characters he meets along the way. The spectrum of life – the chasm between the best and the worst of humanity – gets flattened under the multitude of personalities that appear onstage, for sometimes just seconds at a time.

Gyabaah’s Ibrahima is the anchor; a modest performance, yet strong and holding up against the whirlwind of events. It seems at times that the actor is fighting Stella Powell-Jones’ directorial constraints as much as the cruel twists of fate his character endures, and we get the sense Gyabaah is aching to emote more. At the same time, though, we are left wondering if this is a deliberate ploy, to strip it of sensationalism, in a bid to convey how ubiquitous the struggles of migration are. This show doesn’t overwhelm us, but it does lift a veil to reveal the face of the seemingly nameless people we hear about in the news. In its own way “Little Brother” is a ‘must see’ show. It is certainly a story that must be told. In the closing moments, Ibrahima’s father appears as a ghost to tell him “Son, you must never think you’re the worst off… and you can never say, ‘I’m suffering more than anyone else’”. It takes a while to get there, but finally the heart and soul of the story achieves its poignancy. We learn second hand of the plight of his brother, but the strength of that blood bond that motivates Ibrahima throughout is delivered to us, first hand, with a powerful punch.

LITTLE BROTHER

Soho Theatre

★★★★

“McAndrew’s writing is sharp and empathetic”

LITTLE BROTHER

Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 22nd October 2025

by Daniel Outis

Photography by Camilla Greenwell

Previously reviewed at Soho Theatre venues:

LITTLE BROTHER

LITTLE BROTHER

LITTLE BROTHER

LITTLE BROTHER

Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★

“It is certainly a story that must be told”

LITTLE BROTHER

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 21st May 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Steve Gregson

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Little Brother

Little Brother

Little Brother

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