At no 73 Cooper St, Brian Baxter wishes his son wasn’t so irritating. Liam Baxter can’t switch off, can’t sit still, he’s disruptive at school and chaotic at home. As for Liam, he just wishes someone understood him.

Three doors down, Albert keeps himself to himself, sticks to his routines. At 91, he knows what he likes and likes what he knows. But Albert misses his wife and just wishes that someone, somewhere would have time for him.  

When Liam and Albert’s paths cross, no one can fathom what on earth they have in common. But the boy and the man share more than they know, and what slowly grows is a friendship that both of them need, even if the rest of the world can’t see it.

Created through Community Conversations across the UK, gathering people’s experiences of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), loneliness, aging, hearing loss, connection and community, Vamos Theatre’s Boy on the Roof is the story of an unlikely friendship, where acceptance, understanding and love find their way to centre stage.

Boy on the Roof is accessible to deaf audiences without BSL interpretation.

As with all its productions, Vamos Theatre welcomes everyone to see Boy on the Roof, including people who may need a more accepting auditorium environment. The company invites all its audiences to join in supporting this inclusivity, so that everyone feels welcome.

Suitable for 12+, this production contains references to drugs. Boy on the Roof is a co-commission with London International Mime Festival and a co-production with New Wolsey Theatre.

Boy on the Roof has been created with the help of Community Conversation. These are informal discussions, open to all, which we staged in theatres, neighbourhood venues and online over the first year of the show's creation. Everyone was invited to attend a Community Conversation, where writer and director Rachael Savage talked about the making of the show and invited people's own stories – initially of streets, neighbourhoods and connections, but soon including topics that were being frequently brought up during the conversations – ADHD, aging, hearing loss and loneliness. These formed the backbone of the show's stories and characters.