Late in the evening after a long Fringe day, I rolled up to Until Death more than a little apprehensive about warnings outside stating ‘Audience participation and nudity’. Yet I left an hour later with a broad smile after a joyous, life-enhancing experience.
Nalini Sharma has turned her experiences in hospital as a child when she survived more than one motorcycle accident (I’m put in mind of Oscar Wilde, in that one may be regarded as a misfortune) to explore the resilience and coping strategies of those faced with illness and death, and it’s very funny, while ever poignant.
Opening with her ‘stagehand’ Mike Rose using fans of ever-increasing strength to try and dispel the smell of death from the room – well, it is the Surgeon’s Hall from back ‘when they weren’t so good at it’ – Sharma emerges as a bat who will increasingly torment Mike and provide a fun linking device between the characters she portrays. She is a wonderfully funny presence using clowning and physical theatre along with friendly and knowing audience interactions to draw us into what could be fairly dark material.
From the unapologetically incontinent older lady in a nappy, to the stroppy teen dancing to music on his headphones and getting in the way, Sharma is superb at representing the ways in which we distract ourselves from the illness and death of ourselves and those around us – while never losing sight of the regrets, the anger, and the overwhelming sadness that we try to disguise. She has the uncanny ability to take us instantly from laughing along with an irrepressibly upbeat wife of a patient, to a tiny moment of beautifully heartbreaking sadness and back again via a bat being chased by Mike in classic slapstick style.
The absurdity of the production reflects the chaos of the hospital and the indignities that we face there while trying to retain good humour. Sharma encourages us to face it all with humour and fortitude, embrace the absurdity and enjoy it all Until Death.
Until Death runs until Sat 26 Aug 2023 at theSpace @Surgeons Hall – Stephenson Theatre at 22:10