No Child @ Assembly Rooms

An intensely physical piece, No Child sees Nijala Sun performs numerous characters – from teenagers to aged school janitors – in this drama about the state of American schools despite the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Her main character is eager ‘teaching artiste’ Miss Sun, auditioning for acting work and taking drama teaching jobs to pay the rent. She finds herself teaching a delinquent class in the poorest area of New York – the Bronx. Arriving with the best of intentions, she finds a disinterested yet spirited class on their umpteenth teacher for the year. Through the course of the performance, the class is coached through rehearsals and ultimately a performance of an Australian play about cultural displacement, guiding the students through their own issues of identity, belonging and overcoming socio-economic barriers.

The play itself is narrated by aging Janitor Baron, who makes wise and caring observations on the efforts of the teacher and the students. This is the most revealing of characters, in that he is performed at a slower pace to the other characters and in isolation. However Nijala Sun reveals her absolutely incredible drama skills in her physical portrayal of the 10+ students, the school principal and the various teachers involved with her students. The switch between the tough alpha male, the bitchy girl, the nerd, the slow kid, the too-cool-for-school kids, is lightning quick and super clear. Couple that with a script of perfect insight, the only criticism is that tendency to over-act an already powerful piece, making it a little overwhelming.

A standing ovation from the older, conservative crowd reveals the power of the message the piece has, however the notion that the audience could or should look closer to home at the social problems.