Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Am I Dead Yet?

 
Steven Fraser Review by Steven Fraser 4 Published: 22 Aug 2015 Traverse Theatre Show Dates: 18 Aug 2015-30 Aug 2015

Death is an important topic and it affects everyone, obviously. Am I Dead Yet? uses storytelling, song and comedy to ask questions on death and ponder what would happen if medicine and science could keep you alive forever. Before the audience enters the theatre space we are given postcards onto which we must write the way in which we may die. These postcards make an appearance at the end of the performance and highlight the interactive and spontaneous nature of the theatre that Jon Spooner and Chris Thorpe make.

Jon Spooner and Chris Thorpe are excellent storytellers.

Am I Dead Yet? begins with the two performers entering the stage with exuberance and energy. They are wearing white underwear and vests and dance around the stage to a heavy metal soundtrack. The music then abruptly ends and the performance starts proper. Am I Dead Yet? involves Thorpe and Spooner telling two separate stories that interweave throughout the performance. One of the stories is set in the beige world during "the late seventies or early eighties". Here we are told the story of a man who tragically commits suicide on a rail track. The other story involves a young girl who succumbs to a tragic accident on a frozen lake. There is a back and forth between the stories which creates a seamless narrative. This effect produces a poignant story that looks at the permanence of death and also the miracles of medical science.

Am I Dead Yet? is interspersed with musical vignettes that move the story forward and add to the overall comedic nature of the performance. Jon Spooner and Chris Thorpe are excellent storytellers. They tackle the weighty subject of death with the right amount of laughs and poignancy.

Related to this article:

Location:

Performances

The Blurb:

Death is no longer a moment. It's a process. A process that can be reversed. Two friends, talking (and singing) about what happens when we die, how we think about dying and, most importantly, how some of us might be brought back. Performed by Jon Spooner and Chris Thorpe, Am I Dead Yet? is filled with stories and songs about death and dying and about how we don’t talk about it enough. A new show from Unlimited Theatre inspired by research into contemporary developments in resuscitation science and made in collaboration with Emergency Care professionals.