SAD – Omnibus Theatre, London

A review of SAD, on at Omnibus Theatre in Clapham. Victoria Willing’s play about isolation, connection and grief has promise which is not quite fulfilled.

SAD

This is my second outing to Omnibus Theatre in Clapham, the first being for Small Change in 2021. Remind me to come back to a key point about Omnibus Theatre at the end of this review.

Today’s review is of SAD, a play by Victoria Willing in its debut production, directed by Marie McCarthy. SAD tells the story of Gloria (Debra Baker) who, having killed her mother with the Christmas turkey, has taken refuge from the world in her attic. Her partner Graham (Kevin N. Golding) appears from time to time to bring sandwiches and try to tempt her downstairs. And we also meet friend Magda (Izabella Urbanowicz), and neighbour Daniel (Lucas Hare).

SAD is here capitalised as it refers to Gloria’s Seasonal Affective Disorder. If only she can get through to spring, perhaps things will look brighter? Easier to face? But it is also a play about sadness in a bigger sense. Sadness about idealised pasts and unfulfilled dreams. Sadness about the state of the world. Grief, isolation, loneliness. Did I mention this was a black comedy?

The feeling that I had watching SAD was that the play tries to fit a lot in. All of the characters are facing deep personal challenges. But there are so many ways that you can explore themes of grief and loneliness that I think SAD would have done better to prune back to explore a few in depth rather than touching on many of them without digging into what it means for the characters. To name a few examples, in the space of 90 minutes the play references physical intimacy replacing emotional intimacy; issues around alcoholism, drug abuse and mental health; strained family relationships… Yes, perhaps a good prune would have allowed us to better understand the characters’ inner lives and to create a deeper connection with them. I found it took me a while to get into SAD, and suspect this is related.

Thought-Provoking Nonetheless

Having given you this outline, it’s important to take a look at the production as a whole and the positives I enjoyed. Firstly, Debra Baker as Gloria was excellent. As well as being about sadness in a general sense, this is a story grounded in the experience of a woman who has lost her place in the world. Her mother is gone (and did Gloria’s cooking really kill her? We are still not sure). Her daughter is far away. She hasn’t had a fulfilling career. Her heroes (Bowie foremost amongst them) have started to die. The urge to push people away, to test their limits, can be a strong one. As well as portraying Gloria’s anger and prickliness convincingly, what Baker does very well is to give glimpses of Gloria’s personality shining through from the miasma of despair.

The other characters all had their moments, but again could have done with a little more drawing out. For the male characters, I (maybe counterintuitively) liked them best when they were arguing by the bins. The scene gave good opportunities to both actors, as neighbour Daniel’s pomposity and self-aggrandizing tips Graham’s anger over the edge. And I would have liked to understand Magda better for sure.

Otherwise the production is a solid one. The set by Alys Whitehead are spot on, creating a claustrophobic sense of an attic hidey hole while also flexing to portray other spaces. I particularly liked Dan Light’s video designs and Alex Thomas’s lighting design, which were used to great effect to punctuate the scene changes.

Ultimately, because there is so much to think through in this play, I suggest seeing it with a friend and retiring to the theatre bar afterwards for a good discussion. Which brings me back to the reminder I left myself earlier: Omnibus Theatre has a really lovely, friendly and comfortable bar, so I actually suggest time before and after the show to enjoy it. The cakes look splendid. Something to offset the weighty themes while you discuss SAD and figure out your own thoughts on it.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

SAD on until 30 April 2022