Zhe (Noun) Undefined @ Contact, Manchester

Zhe contains some of the bravest performances this writer has ever seen. Set against a plain black stage with a few arranged, miscellaneous wooden props, Antonia Kemi Coker and Tonderai Munyevu proceed to honestly, openly and uncompromisingly tell the stories of their lives from childhood to present day, from the best of times to the very worst, as they explore and explain their own struggles with gender, sexuality and identity.

The presentation of the play is very physical. The actors’ movements are choreographed around each other, as is their speech – the two often speaking simultaneously or finishing each other's sentences. The overall atmosphere, however, doesn’t feel like that of a physical theatre piece. It feels like storytelling. Coker and Munyevu are very aware of their audience (and of each other on stage), and together they create an intimacy and empathy within the theatre that has everyone present hanging on their words and completely absorbed within the world of their stories. And those stories cover some pretty harsh subject matter, including alcoholism, sexual abuse, homelessness, family breakdowns, bullying and gender crises.

Despite the sorrow in their tales, the pair don't get dragged down into grief, but rather keep their performances deceptively cheerful and often funny enough to have the audience laughing out loud. Quips, jokes and broad smiles characterise their storytelling, as does their enthusiastic portrayal of the ‘extras’ in each other's stories – be they a strict maid, a drunk priest or a glamorous parent – effortlessly bringing them to life and, true to the form of the play, blurring gender boundaries further as each actor crosses from male to female roles with ease.

With just as much fluidity as in their representation of gender, Carter and Munyevu have the incredible ability to slip seamlessly from comedy to tragedy without warning. Where one minute you might be smiling along with the actors, the next second, before you’ve even quite realised what’s just been said, the atmosphere has perceptively changed, and the story has turned down a new dark avenue.

As the play closes, the two actors – one man and one woman, if they choose to call themselves so – simply and modestly explain how they met, decided to create this theatre piece and decided to make it their own stories on the stage, this time. It is the perfect ending to a powerful, moving and deeply affecting performance.