Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen

What initially drew me to reviewing this show was that it has the same producer as the Netflix show Baby Reindeer, which I loved, although recent controversies around Netflix being sued for defamation have forced me to ponder on its appropriateness.

What also drew me to this show was that I could relate to the title, that fear that “something terrible is going to happen” for much of my life. I don’t anymore, having recognised that feeling this way is a trauma response, and this came across strongly in the show.

That being said, I don’t like to know much about the shows I’m going to review before I review them, so I didn’t research anything. The set was a microphone in front of a red curtain, and my initial reaction was “oh, I didn’t realise this was a comedy show”. When Samuel Barnett came on stage and started performing his routine, it wasn’t long before I realised that this wasn’t a comedy show but a theatre piece cleverly portrayed as a comedy show. I was thinking along the lines of Hannah Gadsby and her comedy show Nannette, which I see as a piece of theatre rather than a comedy show. However, it wasn’t until I returned home last that I realised that Samuel Barnett is an actor and that the show as written by Marcelo Dos Santos, directed by Matthew Xia, designed by Kat Heath, sound design Max Pappenheim. I also didn’t realise that this show was part of the Midsumma Festival.

While I was in the show it felt like Samuel was talking about his own life story, and it does definitely come across that way, which is testament to his strong acting skills. Thematically, this show was definitely down my alley, in terms of engaging in self-destructive behaviour due to unresolved trauma, and how this manifests in the quest for finding love and learning to love yourself. There were some funny moments, and the writer didn’t shy away from the grit and sex which I liked. Unfortunately though, there was something missing in this show for me. There was almost a reliance on the fact that it was produced by the same people that created Baby Reindeer. Had this show been created by creatives without a name, I would be saying that this show felt like it needed further development. It was extremely fast-paced and I found my mind wondering. However, it might just be a matter of taste, because the person I took with me enjoyed it more than I did.   

Koraly Dimitriadis

Koraly Dimitriadis is a Cypriot-Australian bestselling poet, writer and performer and the author of Love and F—k Poems, Just Give Me The Pills, She’s Not Normal and the short story collection The Mother Must Die. Her theatre show “I say the wrong things all the time” premiered at La Mama. www.koralydimitriadis.com

Photographer: Mark Gambino