Review: SAD, Omnibus theatre

There is certainly a gap in the representation of middle-aged women who are confronting ageing and complicated relationships on stage. Victoria Willing's new play SAD has the potential to fill that hole by exploring a woman-of-a-certain-age's messy experiences of love, grief and isolation, but fails to provide anything new.

Gloria is a middle-aged woman who has settled herself in her attic as a means of coping after her mother has died. Gloria has Seasonal Affected Disorder and feels she has lost herself. Her patient partner Graham brings her ham sandwiches and pleads with her to come downstairs. She brushes off the concerns of her kind friend Magda and argues with her emotionally-stunted neighbour Daniel, who climbs through the Velux window to visit her.

There are some good performances. Debra Baker shows convincing anger and resentment with life as Gloria. It is hard to feel sympathy for her, as she is so brittle and nasty to those around her. Kevin N Golding shows bubbling frustration as Graham and Isabella Urbanowicz is understated and level-headed in the underwritten role of Magda.

Lucas Hare has the most interesting character to play in Daniel; a sneering, sycophantic and patronising man with a very overinflated opinion of his own self-importance. Hare is very credible in the role; from his bombastic manner as he overshares personal information, to his pompous, physical stance, as he provokes Graham into punching him.

Director Marie McCarthy, who collaborated with Willing on the well-received Spring Offensive in 2017, creates an intimate atmosphere, but the writing makes the story feel disjointed and a bit chaotic at times.

The script is often frustrating, as it hints at some potentially very interesting depths, but they are never explored. Gloria has lost her mother and her daughter has emigrated. There are hints of a problematic relationship with her daughter, but this is not developed. Nor is Graham's previous alcoholism or political activism. Gloria says that she misses her mother, but goes no further. Every character has issues and messy lives and the play does not provide much clarity or insight into any of it.

Gloria is clearly having some sort of breakdown; she misses her mother's funeral and she goes to the toilet in a bucket to avoid going downstairs. However, even with this in mind, there seems little plausibility in Gloria hanging out of her window to invite Daniel over for sex, as is the lack of any attempt of the pair to be quiet while Graham is downstairs. Gloria murmurs that she thought she might have imagined the betrayal, but it is not convincing. We never get under the skin of the issues.

It is a shame, as the production looks and sounds great. Alys Whitehead's very detailed set design encapsulates a typical, cluttered attic space; filled with abandoned boxes, old records and broken extension leads. Alex Thomas' atmospheric lighting and Joe Dines' creative sound design nicely punctuate the scene changes.

SAD is a chance to explore how a struggling woman feels about her place in society and her role as a woman. It feels like a missed opportunity, as there is too much left unsaid.

SAD is at the Omnibus Theatre until 30 April

Photo Credit: Dan Tsantilis

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