Gloria thinks the Christmas turkey killed her elderly mother and has defected to the attic with her seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Her partner Graham is desperate to get her back on track and is still fighting the good fight for the socialists, suggesting a general strike at one point, writes Susan Hallissey.
Gloria (Debra Baker) wants to ‘remember who I am?’ in Victoria Willing’s SAD and decides to write her memoirs in between playing computer games, listening to punk, Prince, and David Bowie, and all the time throwing looks of contempt at her partner, the cuckolded Graham (Kevin N Golding), the reality of a soured relationship all too evident.
Throw into the mix Magda (Izabella Urbanowicz) as Gloria’s best friend and recent victim of a burglary, along with the loathsome Daniel (Lucas Hare), the neighbour and self-righteous housing officer, we are set for a bit of a melodrama.
There are sub-plots and unanswered questions. However, the cast gave good solid performances. Hare plays Daniel with such a sneer I could hear the woman behind me groaning with displeasure every time he appeared on the stage.
A moving scene with Magda and Graham at the police station after Graham has punched Daniel, thankfully showed the intimacy of friendship and not another plot twist.
I had expected Gloria’s character to explore more of what it felt like to be a woman of an ‘invisible’ age (usually around 50!). Was she living in the attic because of her age? Her mother’s death? Or SAD? Instead, we were given snippets of all the characters’ struggles, including alcoholism, displacement, political activism, ageism and classism. This piece touched on so many issues. In fact, the whole cast had issues – but isn’t that life?
The attic set design by Alys Whitehead worked really well along with Alex Thomas’s lighting. A lively sound track prompts Gloria’s character to dance, while a powerful argument between Graham and Gloria shook me out of my stupor. The fierce rant was about a Hoover and a pile of sawdust – showing how things build up and what needs to be truly said, quite often isn’t.
For all women of the mystical ‘invisible’ age, get up, dance like Gloria, and write your memoirs – but resort to the attic and a SAD light only if you really want to!
Omnibus Theatre until 30 April. Times: 7.30pm, Sun mat, 4pm (excl. Mon). Ticket prices: £16, £13 conc.
Booking Link: https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/sad
Box Office: 0207 4984699