Writer: Eve Kim
Director: Daniel York Loh
Daniel York Loh’s sound design is the best thing about this three-hander examining memory and grief when a young woman finds herself on a distant planet. However, it’s not always clear what is going on. Is the planet meant to be a kind of prison for convicts from Earth? The main character says she’s there for murder. Memories come to her on the planet of Nyra, and slowly we discover who she killed.
Eve Kim’s story is already dense enough, but any enlightenment is prevented by director York Loh’s decision to have the characters frequently sitting down on the low stage of the Courtyard’s studio space. This means that only the front few rows of the audience can see what’s going on. The rest of us have to bend our necks or even stand up to glimpse what is occurring between the characters. Theatre companies must react to the space in which they are performing, no matter what they’ve done in rehearsal.
The ghostly recollections that appear for Miu (Kim plays the lead part) in her new home are centred on her relationship with best friend Jay, and also on her mother, who gives an overlong speech detailing how she met Miu’s father. Jinyu Dan plays both of these spectres, but her portrayal of goofy, excitable Jay is a delight.
Already on Nyra when Miu arrives in a fantastic movement sequence directed by Emilia Cadenasso representing her teleportation is Alessia, an American. It’s not quite clear what her crime is. Something to do with falling asleep at the wheel? The character is underwritten, and Christina Martino has little to do other than be a bystander as Miu’s memories come back to haunt her.
With York Loh’s terrific music underscoring the whole piece and Zitong Yin’s clever lighting, the edgy, strange atmosphere that the creatives generate is rather scuppered when Miu repeatedly exclaims that she is “horny”. Indeed, the comic sections undermine the eerie morals and landscape of the new world. There are a few surprises at the end when it comes to costumes. But only if you are able to see them.
Reviewed on 26 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
