A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) continues at the Vault Festival, London until 3 February and on tour until 14 June 2019.
Star Rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Following an award-winning run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Festival (Fringe First Award & Musical Theatre Review’s Best Musical Award at the Edinburgh Fringe), Silent Uproar Productions brings its hilarious, vulnerable, and touching production of A Supper Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) to London’s Vault Festival.
There is a cabaret feeling to the production as you set eyes on the stage. A large and elaborate frame is in the background and the actors are all in sparkly green jackets and waistcoats.
Madeleine MacMahon commands the space immediately, sparking conversation with the audience members and cracking jokes while they take their seats. As the show begins, you are quickly exposed to the hilarity of the dark comedy that the production boasts and the candid, intimate nature of the performances to come.
This production is an excellent exploration of the duality that surrounds depression. MacMahon, who plays Sally, delivers a vulnerable and powerful performance as she exposes the raw journey an individual takes as they battle the illness of depression. She carries the show as they switch from deep dramatic moments, to those of amusing musical brilliance.
Both the supporting actors, Sophie Clay and Ed Yelland, should be applauded for their impactful and ever-changing characters. They are able to, with very minimal costume additions, create pivotal characters in brief moments that are relatable and three-dimensional. You can tell the audience could place the characters Clay and Yelland create in their own life, adding to the much-needed comedic relief.
Olivier Award winning Jon Brittain’s script is modern and refreshing, utilising humour to help an every changing audience to understand the complicated nature of a misunderstood disease. Its power is enhanced by Matthew Floyd Jones’ simple and effective score, and Alex Mitchell’s minimal and specific directing choices.
Silent Uproar Productions’ journey does not stop with the London Vault Festival. They will be touring the UK following the festival starting in Scarborough (5-6 February) and wrapping up in Leicester (14 June).
This is definitely not a show to miss, but bring a coat as the space can get extremely cold.
Megan Lloyd-Jones
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