Hannah and Hanna

Margate, 1999. Hannah, a bored, frivolous local girl, crosses paths with Hanna, one of many Kosovan asylum seekers whose arrival has provoked the town's intolerance. Hannah initially follows her friends' small-minded example, until prejudice escalates into violence and leads to an unlikely friendship.

Sounds predictable? Perhaps. Hannah and Hanna is not breaking any new ground when it comes to the portrayal of bigotry – the trope that we all have more in common than we think is well-worn, and with good reason. Where the play rises or falls then, is with the characters who inhabit that familiar narrative, and it is in that regard that Hannah and Hanna shines.

Though the writing is sometimes heavy-handed, the acting displays a lighter and more complex touch, thanks to the versatile, emotionally vivid talents of Cassandra Hercules and Serin Ibrahim. As Hannah and Hanna, they spend a good deal of time—arguably too much—explaining themselves for the audience's benefit. But it's the moments when they sing that they show us who they really are. Two teenage girls dancing in their bedroom to nineties pop music becomes a more effective articulation of the play's argument than the melodrama and exposition that dominates much of the story.

By the end, the plot is taking desperate leaps in order to fulfill the writer's obvious desire for everything to come full circle, with every perspective swapped, and each inciting incident recalled, remixed and repeated. This may strain your suspension of disbelief, but few will not be satisfied by the conclusion of a touchingly portrayed friendship.