By Jenny Enarsson Sixteen-year-old Hannah is mouthy, hard, and hateful and has a boyfriend who attacks asylum seekers for fun. Hanna, a refugee from Kosovo, has just arrived in Margate. On the seafront she sees Hannah's karaoke renditions of the pop songs she loves. She tries to join in but is showered with racist abuse and chased away. Everything changes after a fight on the beach where they are on different sides. When Hannah's boyfriend seriously injures Hanna's brother, somehow the girls manage to see each other through all the hatred. From then on nothing is the same.
The two girls become friends and spend all their time singing chart hits. Mirroring each other, they are at the same time funny and moving. Confident Hannah moves with the defiant in-your-face style of an avid MTV watcher but every word reveals endless fury and hurt. Meanwhile, traumatised but mild-mannered Hanna dances awkwardly and constantly looks as if she is not entirely sure where she is or how she got there. Beth Cooper beautifully conveys the unease, the grief, and the strength in Hanna, and Louise Fitzgerald is amazing as she interprets the remarkable change that takes place in the angry, damaged Hannah. Hannah & Hanna turns everything upside down. Having stood up for her friend in a racist community, Hannah no longer belongs and in a sense she too becomes a refugee. Meanwhile, Hanna does not feel her mother's nostalgia or her brother's rage, and wants to stay in Margate where she feels relatively safe and happy. The play has something to say about a difficult topic, and finds just the right tone of voice. This is evidenced by the fact that towards the end of the play, it is almost hard to hear the actors for all the crying in the audience. | 
