Hi I’m Steve Sobers, one of the RWCMD Community Volunteers, in this role the volunteers seek to support the college mission of being “A Space for Everyone”. The volunteers come from a range of different backgrounds, to support their role, they receive a volunteer pack and training on presenting to the public on behalf of college. Volunteers speak to community groups about the work of RWCMD and develop links with communities and college.

An important element of the role is working with the college, to focus on a range of productions in the Creative Programme to support new audiences to access the venue and see live performances. I have previously supported 7 members of my church group to see the RWCMD Big Band for a jazz performance. During the most previous term I worked with Guy the Communities Engagement Partner and we discussed the Creative Programme of performances.  I was particularly interested in a new play called Boy-Ish by Massena Productions to see how it would approach the subject of men and their place in contemporary society, which it did…delicately and with sensitivity.

One of the reasons I was particularly interested in this show was, I’m currently serving as the lead facilitator for the ANDYSMANCLUB group that meets every Monday (except bank holidays) 7:00pm-9:00pm at the Cardiff City Football Stadium. AMC are a men’s suicide prevention charity, offering free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online. We want to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and help men through the power of conversation. #ITSOKAYTOTALK

The production BOY-ISH begins with a simple premise—four young men breaking into their old school for a night of drinking, reminiscing and reckless nostalgia—but what unfolds is far richer, darker and more tender than this setup suggests. The play uses this return to familiar spaces as a way of exploring the emotional archaeology of boyhood: the jokes, the games, the bravado, the unspoken rules, and the quiet wounds that never quite heal.

The writing by Rhys Warrington, in collaboration with Anthony and Kel Matsena, is sharp and attuned to the rhythms of male friendship. The dialogue swings smoothly between laddish humour and moments of startling vulnerability, capturing the way men often supress their feelings rather than speak to them aloud. The production leans into this tension beautifully. Told through a fusion of music, movement and gripping drama.

The play understands that growing up is messy, and that the spaces that shaped us—schools, locker rooms, playgrounds—leave marks that adulthood doesn’t simply erase. It explores how trying to change can feel like betrayal, while staying the same can feel like failure.

The Matsena brothers’ choreography brings an electric charge to the production. The physicality of the performers gives the audience access to the inner lives of these men in ways the characters themselves cannot articulate. It’s a clever and affecting, especially in a play about people who were taught to ignore or deflect their feelings.

The result is a production that feels both intimate and universal. In the end, the play lingers because it understands something essential: that the people we were as children never fully disappear. They echo in our friendships, our fears, our choices. And sometimes, all it takes is one night in an old school to hear them again.