Review: UnTethered, The Glitch

There can be a lot of misconceptions about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), the debilitating impact it can have on those who suffer from it, and the struggles to manage it.  With UnTethered, Tana Sirois presents a very personal account of her life with OCD, to raise awareness of the impact, and uses comedy effectively to make her story as relatable and engaging as it is educational.

Sirois uses a clever framing device to build up a connection to the audience and introduce the topic of OCD in an approachable manner.  She opens with a relatable common experience, the desire to connect to other people, explaining that she can only form meaningful romantic relationships when a close emotional bond is shared.  She uses the show to explain her own insecurities caused by OCD and encourages the audience to volunteer to help visualise them through various creative interactions.  Sirois is incredibly warm and charming as she shares her experiences; the small stage area is perfectly suited for the personal nature of the show, enabling her to keep eye contact throughout and build a connection with the audience.

Director, Polina Ionina, has worked with Sirois to develop a range of entertaining vignettes to gently introduce the core elements of OCD, whilst effectively conveying the full trauma it can cause.  As Sirois explains a new concept or informative childhood incident, accompanying definitions, pictures or videos, are projected onto the back wall to help bring it to life.  A box labelled ‘coping mechanisms’ contains various props which Sirois uses to help visualise the methods she uses to keep darker OCD thoughts from her mind.  To help the audience recognise that trauma and fear are universal experiences, although greatly enhanced by OCD, we complete a card describing common fears and play ‘trauma bingo’.  To discuss responses to trauma, audience members are invited to join her on stage to play a game of ‘guess the response’; contestants are given a list of responses and try to guess which one she is acting out.  For this game, Sirois enhances the fun by adopting the persona of a game show host, complete with traditional enthusiastic mannerisms, an eye-catching bright blazer and a microphone.  

UnTethered very effectively showcases the way that OCD can manifest suddenly and remove all sense of control from those who are caught by it, as Sirois often presents the impact midsentence, which is true to life.  Whilst describing the repetitive cycle of distress that OCD can cause, the overpowering nature of it is shockingly brought to life when Sirois dances around the stage miming out the cycle, seemingly helplessly caught up in a never-ending cycle and unable to break away. 

One of the most debilitating aspects of OCD is intrusive thoughts, which Sirois and Ionina slowly introduce to convey how they can be subtle and dismissible at first, before escalating to become overwhelming.  There are sudden loud rumbling noises, which initially go unremarked by Sirois and could be mistaken for sounds from the café upstairs.  These later take the form of pre-recorded dialogue of an anxiety repeatedly interrupting Sirois, or a plastic bag being thrown onto stage, easily brushed to the side or put away in a pocket.  Eventually, she is interrupted by a creative puppet monster made from plastic bags, dominating the stage as it relishes the fear it brings, which she must fight off. 

This is an incredibly moving and thought-provoking experience, presented with warmth and sincerity by Sirois.  Whether you have personal experience of OCD or are intrigued to learn about it, UnTethered is fully approachable, entertaining and engaging.

Written by Tana Sirois
Directed by: Polina Ionina

UnTethored has completed its run at The Glitch,
but you can catch it in Brighton & Edinburgh this summer.