OUTPATIENT at Reading Rep Theatre
★★★★
“a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending”
Three black walls, a black floor, a running machine and a giant exercise ball. One remarkable solo writer-performer. That’s what it takes to make one heck of a show at Reading Rep.
Harriet Madeley is an award-winning writer, actor, producer and co-director of the theatre company Crowded Room which ‘specialises in true stories that get people talking’. Mid-way through writing a new play about death – the subject no-one wants to talk about that we have all but airbrushed out of our lives – the wheel of fate took an unexpected turn. Madeley was diagnosed with a rare and chronic disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). The condition, which attacks the liver and bile ducts, affects around seven in every million in the UK. Life expectancy of sufferers can be as short as ten years and there is, as yet, no cure.
On stage Harriet Madeley becomes a ditsy journalist called Olive who must recruit interviewees for an article about terminal illness. When Olive finds herself similarly diagnosed, her own life unravels in a rapidly descending spiral of laugh out loud comic moments. She even wonders whether her own death could become her own best career break yet.
The show does not flag for a second as Madeley interacts with recordings and delivers a series of reflective monologues on her condition. As those around her struggle to accept her fate and she goes off at a very unexpected tangent, we get to know Olive’s fiancée, parents and friends in a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending.
With simple and effective video and lighting by Megan Lucas, sound by Bella Kear and some smart direction from Madelaine Moore, this thought provoking new play more than merits its Summerhall Lustrum Award for Unforgettable Theatre. It is a warm and life-enhancing version of the performer’s own terminal diagnosis story and deserves to run and run.
OUTPATIENT at Reading Rep Theatre
Reviewed on 17th October 2024
by David Woodward
Photography by Harry Elletson
Previously reviewed at this venue:
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR | ★★★★★ | May 2024
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE | ★★★★★ | December 2023
SHAKESPEARE’S R&J | ★★★★ | October 2023
HEDDA GABLER | ★★★★★ | February 2023
DORIAN | ★★★★ | October 2021
OUTPATIENT
OUTPATIENT
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