While you might struggle to ask a steward about where to find “no no no please god no, nevermind I’m fine,” you will not struggle to appreciate its thoughtful charm and abundant qualities. This is a solo show, performed with energetic brilliance by Sarina Freda, who bears her very soul in a deeply personal and profound tour-de-force. It’s about a lot – mortality, identity, individualism, love – but chiefly it’s about a life-changing psychedelic experience and all of its consequences; that’s about as much as one should know without spoiling the show’s intentional vagueness and surprise.
You’re taken on a spiritual journey for the new generation, Freda grabs you off your seat and drags you with her as she figures it all – yes, literally everything – out. She attempts to take control and discover her power in an existence which all too often seems to fight against her. There are sharp changes of pace, and what seems quirky and fun, quickly morphs into the dark and troubling with the support of some excellent sound craft and choreography. Disembodied voices and ominous music blare at you and drag Freda in every direction at once, crescendoing into a moving cry from hell.
Then she changes pace again, and again, leaving you continually off-balance and in hysterics at the show’s playfully dark sense of humour. What seems worked out and settled comes back into sharp focus and reveals itself as anything but. Yet, we can be strong – the best version of ourselves – without being entirely fine, and Freda is potentially not all that fine. There is no happily-ever-after, no contented conclusion, but perhaps that’s life. no no no is a poignant, revelatory journey which should be on everybody’s radar.
no no no please no god no, nevermind I’m fine, 16.05, the Space Triplex, until August 24
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/no-no-no-please-no-god-no-nevermind-i-m-fine
