Words: Natasha Chanse

Brigette Aphrodite and Quiet Boy’s show, SAD, is a unique expression of a universal theme; grief. What is abundantly clear from the outset is the love that is poured into every second of this performance; the love the two performers – a couple – have for their late mother-in-law, for one another and for the audience.

There is a therapeutic and inclusive nature to the show, demonstrated by the distribution of tissues at the beginning and their encouragement of open expression from the audience – be it through movement, sound or tears. Indeed, sitting in the atmospheric pitch-black – occasionally disrupted by golden headlights diffused by smoke machines or colourful fairy lights – you can get lost in your own thoughts.

They cleverly utilise the space, with the audience looking down unto the living room setting in the centre of the stage; a collective witnessing the isolation and loneliness of grief. During a profound segment of the show, the narrator simply sits in the chair staring into space whilst the booming surround sound plays an ominous, inception-esque tune and recordings of people discussing their own experience of grief.

They define the show’s genre as a ‘musically driven experience’. However, the live musical performances and freestyle dances, by trespassing away from this effective abstract style, can disturb the pace of the performance by becoming a slightly uncomfortable karaoke experience. Nevertheless, everyone who attends this show will take something different from it, and it is therefore worth a watch.

SAD
Summerhall, Anatomy Lecture Theatre
15.00
7-13 Aug