Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, a novel written after the death of his son Eddie, has been adapted by the 201 theatre company and was performed at the end of March at the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury. Banbury Therapy Centre were invited to be Compassionate Listeners for anyone in the audience who found the subject emotionally triggering for them. As my colleague Triss from the therapy centre said: ‘This is such a caring thing to offer and something I haven’t heard of in any other theatrical production.’ The atmosphere was powerful and intimate and the space that was created embraced vulnerability in a beautiful way.
Directed by Andrea Walker, the performance was profoundly moving, offering a raw yet beautifully honest exploration of the devastation of loss through dance and animation. There were movements of joy, memory, anger and hope. What was most striking was the way that the dancers communicated emotions that words alone cannot often express. In the Q&A afterwards we heard how each dancer used their own experience of loss to bring an incredible depth of feeling and sincerity to each movement, some of which had great poignancy.
Grief and loss are so universal, and it is deeply consoling to have others express what we feel inside, through movement, truth and beauty. One of the questioners said this production would be wonderful to take into a secondary school. I couldn’t agree more. What is visual and what is enacted through movement is such a wonderful way to express what we hold inside.
Van Gogh – sketch for Sorrowing Old Man / At Eternity’s Gate