Australian play Strangers In Between has made its way to the sunny shores of London as it enjoys a run at the Golden Goose Theatre on Camberwell New Road, courtesy of Lambco Productions.

From award-winning writer Tommy Murphy (who scripted Timothy Conigrave’s Holding The Man for the stage), Strangers in Between delves into the issues facing gay youth in Australia in a time slightly before modern day.

The play follows runaway teen Shane, who has escaped the trauma of his small town life to the daunting streets of Sydney’s early noughties Kings Cross, which he soon realises is not for the faint of heart.

At the centre of Strangers in Between we have the wide eyed Shane (the debuting Alex Andsell), who finds himself simply terrified of his new surroundings in the Cross. On his first day at the Bottlo (Aussie for where you buy beer) he meets Will and Peter, two gays living in Kings Cross who start to show him the ropes.

There were a couple unnecessary leaps and bounds on the set that felt a bit extra, but the three actors bounce off each other from the offset.

The debuting Alex Andsell does a great job channelling the eager-to-please Shane and watching the actor work with the returning Stephen Connery Brown as an older gay archetype Peter beckons more than a few light chuckles from the audience. Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham joins the cast as two characters. First we have Will, a sassy Sydneysider and love interest for Shane, then Mitcham transforms into Shane’s menacing older brother Ben.

Despite its label as a sex comedy, it’s not a very steamy one. One scene in particular finds Shane and Will under a bedsheet, but with the lights on full whack in the auditorium it soon feels like that awkward moment you are watching a TV show with your mum and a sex scene comes on.

At it’s heart Strangers in Between is really a warning of the dangers facing runaway LGBTQ+ youth. As Shane slowly comes to terms with his sexuality, internalised homophobia rears its ugly head and causes Shane to isolate himself. Pair this with an untreated STD and a dark revelation and it’s no wonder Shane can’t escape his abusive past.

Running from 19th September – 7th October, you can get your hands on tickets here