Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad)

The Vaults

Reviewed – 31st January 2019

★★★★

 

“the delivery and the performances of these dynamic character actors certainly make you stand up and listen”

 

“If you were affected by any of the issues raised in this programme…” is such a common tagline on our television screens nowadays, that most people have become inured to it. A quick surf online shows that where there is still a reaction to the announcements, they are usually ones of annoyance at their ‘Nanny-State’ superficiality. Understandable perhaps, but unfair and unreasonable. In reality, these helplines do have a significant impact in encouraging people to seek help for a wide range of problems.

“Silent Uproar” adopt the same sense of responsibility by exit flyering their show “A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad)” with details of where to get support for those struggling with mental health. The award-winning company makes theatre to “make the world a little less shit”. Maybe not the most highbrow tagline, but it is true to their playfully honest approach. And it also helps sweep away the preconception that a musical about depression is going to make for a pretty cheerless evening. “A Super Happy Story…” is anything but cheerless. Written by Jon Brittain with music by Matthew Floyd Jones, it is an uplifting and insightful cabaret about a young woman’s fight with depression.

Sally (played by Madeleine MacMahon) is “fine”, as she repeatedly tells everybody (Sophie Clay and Ed Yelland – impressively playing a diverse roll call of all the other characters). MacMahon brilliantly encapsulates the manic over insistence on having a good time with which Sally embarks on her journey. It begins with denial, then runs the gauntlet of anger, bargaining and acceptance after which she gets better. We think the show is reaching a natural happy ending. But then we are harshly reminded that every silver lining has its own black cloud.

It’s not a ground-breaking message, but the delivery and the performances of these dynamic character actors certainly make you stand up and listen. Clay and Yelland, as Sally’s best friend, boss, mother, boyfriend and much more, are hilarious. Yet they also manage to convey the minefield one needs to navigate when treading the path towards recovery. They understand completely the notion that if you can amuse an audience, you will find that they are far more receptive to what you have to say. The show packs a powerful punch while making you laugh out loud.

The songs slot into the action like interludes between the chapters of Sally’s life, with tight harmonies accompanied by a lone pianist to the side of the stage (it is unclear, though, whether this is Floyd Jones himself or Tom Penn, the credited touring MD). Again, the juxtaposition of upbeat melodies with weighty words shrouds the educational aspects of the show in entertainment.

Depression often feeds on being ignored, which is part of the crux of Sally’s story. This is a show that cannot, and must not be ignored. It is heartfelt and rings absolutely true. Depression might never really go away but, as Sally ultimately declares; “I’m not bad. And not bad feels pretty damn good.”

Nobody can accuse this show of merely being ‘not bad’. I’d say it’s ‘pretty damn good’.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography courtesy Silent Uproar

 

Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad)

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

 

 

 

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