REVIEW: DON’T LET ME DIE BEFORE SUNDAY Lambeth Fringe at Bread and Roses Theatre 18 – 20 October

'Engaging quarter-life crisis drama' ★★★

Aoife is 26 and in A&E again. It’s Hogarthian, there’s someone shackled to a policeman and the receptionist has jazzy painted talons. Based on the experiences of writer Elspeth McColl, Don’t Let Me Die Before Sunday presented by Skin and Blister draws audiences into the experience of debilitating anxiety. From mental health chat rooms to conversations with medical staff, everything that should help, seems to hinder. Aoife is an actor/writer and the idea of performance – in life and art – is key to this anxiety narrative. She’s the performer who can’t seem to find the right script for her own life: “I’m not very good at being myself.” And how the hell does an actor with anxiety even begin to perform a panic attack?

With some inventive direction by Darcy Brown, the use of sound and voiceover to convey intrusive, obsessive thoughts or the sense of disappearing beneath water is effective as are the use of visual metaphors. Hundreds of empty silver packets of anti-anxiety medication rain down on Aoife from a mysterious figure who tempts her with a pillow that would make everything go away. Aoife struggles with shame, self-hatred, and guilt about not having a “real illness”. She struggles to even say the ‘A’ word, repeatedly beeped out like a foul expletive; a great theatrical device to communicate feelings of being stifled or gagged by one’s own feelings. Technically what worked less well is the use of screen-based messaging and communication. The font was so small, it was impossible for those further back in the audience to read the words.

When does life stop being a performance? And when do we start to feel comfortable in our skins? The blurring of art and life is key to this account but could be drawn out with more clarity. Aoife, played by Ella McCallum is a character who lives mainly in her own head. McCallum gives a fine and nuanced performance where a lot happens beneath the surface; what’s being said doesn’t always correlate with what’s being felt. In this quarter-life crisis, there’s a fear of dying, living, and moving forward and the text contains numerous childhood references that relate to more secure, less challenging times. Structurally, the drama doesn’t build and there are no concrete high stakes. Nevertheless, it’s an engaging story that will speak to anyone who has experienced anxiety and allow those who haven’t to empathise with those who have. Ultimately, a light glimmers and will leave audiences to feel more hope than desperation. 

DON'T LET ME DIE BEFORE SUNDAY

Produced by Skin and Blister

Lambeth Fringe

at Bread and Roses Theatre

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