A CHILD's innocence to The Second World War's brutal Nazi regime becomes a reality for one eight-year-old boy.

Bruno, the son of the commandant on the Auschwitz concentration camp, gives an eye opening insight of the wartime cruelty through his innocence.

The play, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which appeared at The Lowry, was based on the same titled best selling novel by John Boyne.

The bite sized play was narrated by Rosie Wyatt, playing the family's maid Maria, and Cameron Duncan, excellently cast as Bruno, perfectly demonstrated how the innocent got caught up in war crimes.

The simple but effective scenery that included a wire fence to demonstrate the barrier between the concentration camp and typed chapter titles on a dark backdrop helped to set the horrifying scene.

When the curious Bruno forms the unlikely friendship Shmuel, a prisoner of war, played by Sam Peterson, the audience knew it was only a matter of time before disaster was due to strike.

The educational play is an important insight into the dark history that saw so many lose their lives.

Character Maria's reassurance to the audience that this sort of thing no longer happens may have helped prevent school pupils from having nightmares but sadly is not completely true.

It was a thoroughly gripping and heartbreaking play that is a stark reminder of the sacrifices people made.

MIRANDA NEWEY