‘Another Sight’ is quite the feat for several reasons. The play is performed by a group of actors from Brazil who learnt English to be able to perform the play here. For reasons that will become clear, subtitles wouldn’t cut it.

Secondly, the script’s about cancer. A woman is reeling from a recent diagnosis. She’s started chemotherapy and is struggling to deal with the side effects. Her husband is trying to pick up the pieces of her inevitably dented confidence. The woman’s maid has just recently returned to work following an absence enforced by her own cancer treatment. She is waiting to hear whether or not her treatment has been effective. It’s weighty, important material, all too infrequently dealt with in theatre.

Thirdly, some of the cast are blind. Others are visually impaired. The play is performed in proper pitch black darkness. Running through the necessary health and safety stuff before the show begins (we will be guided into the space by actors; we mustn’t sprawl out our legs as actors could trip and so forth), actor Edgar Jacques explains that the company is aiming to convey the experience of being blind to their audiences to help them appreciate how much can be conveyed without sight. Teatro Cego hail from São Paulo in Brazil as part of a showcase of Brazilian work this Fringe and have built a reputation on this innovative, inclusive approach to theatre making.

The end result is a fascinating experience. For audience members who aren’t visually impaired, you arguably listen more intently when you can’t use your eyes to aid your understanding. The company make excellent use of sound effects as well as smell to assist their storytelling: the coffee’s rich and the perfume, perfectly pungent. Layered onto the tough subject matter, the script explores the power dynamic between the maid and her employer across their respective journeys.

The resulting work is a gentle, tender musing on what it is to be ill, punctuated with flashes of dark humour. If we let ourselves, Teatro Cego suggest, we can sometimes find another kind of healing if we let ourselves have faith in the people around us.

‘Another Sight‘ is at ZOO Playground – Playground 2 until Sun 24 Aug 2025 at 20:45