Artistic Director and Choreographer: Rhiannon Faith
Rehearsal Director: Shelley Eva Haden
Composers: India Merrett and John Victor
Lay Down Your Burdens presents an emotionally charged evening excellently performed by a Company of nine actors, dancers and musicians. Rhiannon Faith, head of the Company, introduces the show herself and explains that at its heart is the understanding that we all carry baggage with us (our “burdens”) and reflects on what it means to support each other, to hold space for one another’s pain, and to come together through vulnerability. As the evening unfolds we gradually learn about the characters’ burdens and these stories are based on real life testimonials and lived experiences. The show, at various points during the performance, also invites audience participation. This is completely voluntary and only those audience members who are comfortable with this are asked to do so. There is really no pressure or obligation. Participation includes such things as karaoke, fun and games and community singing to talking about individual feelings and sharing personal thoughts. A nice touch is at the climax of the show when these reflections are played back over the p.a. to the accompaniment of the haunting violin and guitar (live on stage). Together this packs a powerful emotional punch that is entirely fitting with what has gone on before.
This type of theatre can only really work in an intimate space and the Barnsley Civic is ideally suited to this. The performance space is designed as a pub in which the audience members sit at individual tables right at the heart of the action. This is not as imposing as it sounds and the Company ensures that all members of the audience feel comfortable with this. Right from the outset when you arrive there is no allocated seat number or distance between audience and performers. You are invited to step into the local pub and sit wherever you are most comfortable and enjoy an evening of dance theatre like no other. You will not be disappointed. The choreography is stunning and performed by an extremely talented
and athletic group of dancers, made all the more impressive by the fact that two of them are pregnant.
The idea of the set design is that by creating a familiar space – a pub – we see one another and for this moment we are all connected. We live in a time when world events can seem so overpowering and heavy and the news just weighs us down that we can feel pulled apart and all we want to do is be on our own and bury our heads in the sand. This production encourages all of us to come together to share the weight of another and to know that by doing so we are not alone.
During the course of the show we gradually learn more about the characters’ lives. Donni (Donald Hutera) is an American (terrific accent – is he really an American?) who blows in from the cold. He is carrying a lot of emotional baggage, symbolised by the heavy amount of actual luggage he enters with. His mother committed suicide by stabbing herself and he had to clean up the blood. He is carrying her ashes – as well as her actual leg! – and her memory with him and struggling to make sense of the world. He tells us of the impact it’s had on him and mentions his OCD feeling like his head is cracked.
Fin (Finetta Sidgwick) worries about the state of the world. She has anxiety about the future, about climate change and humanitarian crisis and struggles with constant feelings of responsibility and guilt. She reflects on current conflicts around the world mentioning bombing of hospitals and violence against children.
Shirley (Shelley Eva Haden) focuses on her high powered job to distract her from feelings of being lost. These feelings date back from when she was a child and she describes ambiguous moments of childhood trauma. She also mentions the impact of undiagnosed ADHD (the issue of long waits to get a diagnosis of a multitude of conditions like autism and other associated neurodivergence when it is diagnosed at all is well known and all too frequent). Shirley also describes the difficulty of being a woman, briefly referencing experiences of sexual assault, pregnancy and abortion.
Dick (Dominic Coffey) is happy go lucky and loves being in charge of the games, quizzes and karaoke. He will do anything for anyone, the life and soul of the party, but underneath the smile he struggles too. He has a little baby boy and the pressure and fear of being a parent bothers him constantly. His partner suffers with post-natal depression and his grandmother has dementia and he feels the responsibility to them both deeply.
Sammy’s (Sam Ford) dad left when he was young and he waits and hopes that he will show up one day to have a pint with him and tell him that he’s proud of him.
Sara (Sara Turner) is the landlady of the “pub” and takes care of everyone – she is the glue who holds us all together. But she too has a lot on her plate. She has been diagnosed with cancer and during the evening she learns that it has spread. We see her processing this information and becoming less stable, both physically and emotionally. She has to admit that she needs the others’ support now.
The other three performers are Marta Beccatini, one of the dancers, and musicians India Merrett (violin) and Paul Higham (guitar).
At first glance Lay Down Your Burdens may seem a depressing and debilitating watch but the sheer energy, enthusiasm and expertise of the whole company has to be congratulated on conceiving and executing what is a very compassionate and thought provoking experience. The whole thing once again demonstrates that nothing can beat live theatre for encapsulating raw emotion and providing an evening’s entertainment that will live long in the memory.
Runs until 3 May 2025
