Like breath on a mirror, All the Happy Things’ potential quickly fades as it becomes muddled with side plots. Summary
Rating
Good
The constant and lingering presence of a lost one could be a coping mechanism, providing the comfort and reminder one may need during times of grief. Sienna (Naomi Denny) is constantly accompanied by her dead sister, Emily (LJ Johnson), affecting both her personal and professional lives. Not knowing how she should feel, Sienna tries various things to move on as she juggles troubles with her boyfriend, co-workers and family.
Establishing Emily’s ghostly presence, the sisters mimic each other’s movements, as if Sienna is looking at herself through a mirror. Though Sienna tries to hide this, her conversations with Emily occasionally slip out, creating confusion among those around her. The dialogue crafted by Denny is slick, allowing Sienna to have a three-way conversation without raising suspicion or awkwardness. Despite the fact that Sienna is surrounded by a supportive system, she cannot help but continue to feel pressured.
Denny’s script and Lucy Jane Atkinson’s direction cleverly introduce the audience to a version of Sienna’s boyfriend and boss that are warped by Sienna’s own view and so may be interpreted as less understanding and accepting than they really are. However, this could not be further from the truth, and both are coming from a place of worry and encouragement. The audience gradually see and hear more of what they do and say and understand that much of their representation was negatively impacted by Sienna’s inner psyche.
The plot itself is easy to follow; there are numerous parallel strands that includes Sienna’s deteriorating father in a care home, her stressful work environment, and her romantic relationship. All of these seem to compete for attention, making it difficult to identify the main drive that propels the script forward. As we approach conclusion, these separate elements begin to come together, but the fact that many of these were planted early on and resurface throughout means the eventual resolutions are underwhelming and left not fully fleshed out.
The conversations and dialogue flow well, and the writer has incorporated a fair amount of humour into this thematically heavy story. At times, the switch between depression and silliness feels sudden, making it difficult to fully embrace the humour and dampening the emotional significance within a given scene.
In the role of Sienna, Denny has good chemistry with her co-stars Johnson and Dejon Mullings as Sienna’s boyfriend, Sam. Operating within a challenging dynamic, Denny has to constantly switch between affection and rage towards both Emily and Sam, a role she masters. In addition, Denny maintains the consistent nervous tick, playing with her hair, adding an additional physical manifestation flavour of her anxiousness. Similarly, although Johnson’s primary role is that of the carefree Emily, she also takes on the role of the gentle Ruby, Emily’s ex-girlfriend, showing her flexibility as an actor to quickly switch between personas. These transitions between emotions and characters are supported by the lighting and sound designed by Abi Turner and Eamonn O Dwyer, respectively, creating vivid and easy to interpret changes in Sienna’s emotions as she experiences stress.
Like breath on a mirror, All the Happy Things’ potential quickly fades as it becomes muddled with side plots that only contribute little towards driving the story and serve as an additional distraction for the audience.
Writer: Naomi Denny
Director: Lucy Jane Atkinson
Designer: Jida Akil
Lighting Designer: Abi Turner
Sound Designer & Composer: Eamonn O’Dwyer
Producer: SH Productions
All the Happy Things plays at Soho Theatre until Saturday April 26.
