The Sound of Absence – Omnibus Theatre, London

Writer: Yanina Hope

Director: Ivanka Polchenko

 The Sound of Absence is a slow, piano-scored meditation on losing a father, and does not shy away from the ugly feelings involved. Writer and performer Yanina Hope neither sanctifies nor condemns Lenore’s father or Lenore herself. The choice to have the entire performance accompanied by Vladyslav Kuznetsov’s compositions on grand piano is a striking one, and Kuznetsov’s touch is delicately responsive to the shifting emotions of the performance.

That is largely where the bold and interesting choices cease in The Sound of Absence. Hope’s performance does not always contain the weight that it requires; its wholesale repetition of Edgar Allen Poe and Dylan Thomas poetry is unearned when it appears, and one wishes that Hope had more confidence in her own writing to commit more of it to what feels like a deeply personal play.

Pacing is a major issue for The Sound of Absence. Grief is made of many complex things, and sometimes it comes in rushes while at other times it barely simmers in the background. The Sound of Absence plods along and makes its 70-minute runtime feel much longer. Despite the undeniable beauty of Kuznetsov’s music, the choice is made to have it loop and linger far too long over periods of wordless and motionless staging.

Shahaf Beer’s costume design is effective, however, with delightful needlework displayed alongside intelligent concepts. Indeed, The Sound of Absence has a fairly rich texture, with it sometimes being the case that text, movement, score, props, costume, and lighting are all dynamically engaged at once in individual displays of creativity to create a common feeling. It is in these moments that The Sound of Absence promises to be much more than it ends up amounting to.

Nevertheless, despite some cultural richness in moments, the lighting, especially, is disappointing. Sometimes the choices here are obvious when they can contribute to the emotional feel of the piece, at other times, especially in the projections, the lighting feels unrelated to the concepts of The Sound of Absence.

Where Hope’s writing is most beautiful is when Lenore’s memories are hyper-specific. Reminiscences of a day on the beach resonates powerfully around the stage. It is regrettable that most of The Sound of Absence is absent from many more of these unique pictures. Ultimately, these moments of beauty are hampered by the overall minimalist aesthetic of the play, paired with unmotivated movements and poetic interludes.

Runs until 28 February 2026