‘KIDS Don’t Talk’ is the third and final play in the ‘Don’t Talk’ series from Allycat productions and follows ‘Blokes Don’t Talk’ and ‘Couples Don’t Talk’. It’s theatre with a message and this third instalment displays some good writing and fine acting.

Mostly presented in a series of monologues, we hear the inner thoughts of various young characters in a wide variety of situations. Some are harmlessly funny while others are quite disturbing.

Ruth Pieloor’s ‘Shutup Slut’ is especially well written and performed. Maddison Lee is heart-breaking as a young homeless girl picking up a drunk, played by Nigel Palfreman, to have somewhere to stay for the night. How she justifies this action to herself is chilling.

Three items by Nigel Palfreman displayed the best writing in the show. Max Van Der Klooster gives an excellent performance in ‘Hang On A Minute I’ve Just Got A Message’ as a young man trying to navigate through the perils of social media and in ‘My Skinny Girlfriend’, Tom Maloney displays strong comic and dramatic skills as he tells us about his girlfriend who isn’t quite what we were expecting. ‘Sprung’, the final item, is a well-written and nicely played farce for four characters showing the impact on a young man who unexpectedly catches his parents having sex.

‘Kids Don’t Talk’ shows that message theatre can be very entertaining as well as informative. As a showcase for these mostly young actors and for the three writers who also shared direction, this was a very successful final entry in this series of plays.