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Undersigned

 
Matt Brown Review by Matt Brown 5 Published: 10 Aug 2025 Underbelly, Cowgate Show Dates: 31 Jul 2025-12 Aug 2025

I deliberately went into Undersigned with as little information as possible, and I’d strongly recommend you do the same. That said, I am a reviewer, and as such, I’m duty-bound to tell you a little about the show. As much as I’ll keep things brief and vague, a big part of me hopes you don’t read further than this paragraph. Take my word for it, and go in completely blind. Without hyperbole, Undersigned is the most emotionally and psychologically confronting and transformative piece of theatre that I have ever experienced.

An experience I don’t think I’ll ever forget

Following a brief preparatory and safeguarding conversation with an attendant (in which you list any topics of conversation which are off-limits or too uncomfortable for you), you are led into a small room containing two chairs, a table and a small wooden box. In the box are objects central to the ritual about to take place: matches, a notebook and pen, a blindfold. You are blindfolded, the attendant leaves, and the performer enters.

What follows is one of the most fascinating, challenging and uncomfortable conversations I’ve had in years. Yannick has a knack for playfully unpicking and digging into your fears, desires and values, facilitating an honesty and transparency rarely confronted even in therapy. Through the roughly 45-minute blindfolded conversation, I was encouraged to examine who I really am and what really matters to me, in a way that left me shaken and dizzy as I walked back out into the Cowgate.

What struck me most about Undersigned was how ‘real’ it felt, and continues to feel. When I’ve attended other immersive one-to-one theatre shows, there has always been a sense that you’re ‘playing along’ for the sake of the experience. With Undersigned, the stakes felt cosmic, and I felt completely and genuinely immersed. I feel like I’ve been initiated into an ancient mystery cult; like my sense of self has been shattered, and is in the process of being reconstituted.

I’m aware of how pretentious and unlikely all of this sounds. I ask you to trust me that I’m actually quite a down-to-earth guy. I’m not the sort of over-excited art snob who is prone to calling theatre shows “transformative” and “shattering”. I don’t think I’ve ever claimed that I’ve walked out of a Fringe show feeling “shaken and dizzy” before, and I don’t think I ever will again. Undersigned really is that good, and that important. If you can get a ticket (and that’s a big if – they have a long waiting list, and as I understand it, tickets are rarely made available outside of that), you’ll know exactly what I mean. Undersigned is an experience I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I really want you to experience it for yourself.

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The Blurb:

An invocation, a blindfold and a pointed discussion. This deeply personal, psychological thriller for one offers infinite possibilities and sharp choices. Repeat visitors are forbidden, and nothing said here ever leaves. As such, in place of summary, Management offers you a deal: after your appointment, you can reclaim a portion of your ticket price – or add what the experience was worth to you. Management bets we will exceed your estimation. After three years of sold-out runs and critical acclaim (LA Times, No Proscenium), we make our international debut with limited engagement festival appointments. Opportunity waits; come take it.