The choir cried after The Events played at London’s Young Vic Theatre in October.

There were no tears as it opened a new tour in Brighton.

Could it be that extremist killings are felt more keenly in cities where they’ve happened? Or is this Godless city also without empathy?

These are just two questions of a hundred this play throws up, because its raison d’être is to ask questions.

Still, the audience leant forward, rapt like curious students in a lecture hall, journeying with priest Claire (Amanda Drew) in her search to understand how The Boy (Clifford Samuel) could open fire on a community choir he believes is state propaganda for multiculturalism.

Telling the story from her perspective creates a shared experience – heightened by the presence of an amateur Lewes choir who knew little more than the audience beforehand – to make it not only believable but affecting.

A simple set befitting a community hall, with a piano, stacked chairs and tea table, matches the unpretentious script.

Clifford Samuel delivers a performance to match the play’s ambition. He switches easily between The Boy, his father, his friends and Claire’s girlfriend, without ever losing a subtle chemistry with Drew, as she troubles to square the events with her belief in humanity.

Such necessary and accessible theatre is rare. Go, and take your friends.