Content warning: discussions of suicide (alongside other distressing themes) and strong language.
Terracotta Productions’ Sitting (In Silence), written and executive produced by Kitty Falcon, is a tender, wrenching play that subverts silence with a lifetime’s noise to bring forth devastation in the wake of loss.
Falcon, who also plays Kid in the show, has checked herself into a 10-day silent retreat to cope with a flurry of tragedies: a lost job, relationship, parent, and an unexpected bout of violence against a colleague that has led to her persecution in court. Her attempt is to meditate the pain away amidst the set’s white tree stumps and fallen white leaves, whilst the chalkboard behind her asserts “DURING GROUP MEDITATION, EVERY STUDENT SHOULD REMAIN IN THE HALL.”
The on-stage arrival of her dad, portrayed by Patrick O’Donnell, quickly dispels any suggestion of silence in favour of the character’s restless charm, desperate for banter and a discrete drink. The denial of silence results in a tussle with and within an environment incongruent with the personalities on stage. As the play progresses, Kid’s language goes from idyllic in its vast manifestations of betterment, to weighed by specificity and emotion of the past and present.
Thomas Bugg’s set design makes incredible use of the venue, whereby a strong sense of sterility, created by Summerhall’s Anatomy Lecture Theatre alongside the set’s white foliage, is juxtaposed with the unrelenting emotion of the actors’ performance. Simultaneously, Louis Blatherwick’s design brings forth a soundscape that simultaneously lifts and contains the characters. Where the show finds the sweet chirping of birds, it also finds a sudden downpour of British rain, that neither afterlife or imagination can escape.
The Show’s 60 minutes are a beautiful (if non-linear) retracing of life in light of need, fear, and anger, with the most honest affection brought out by Isabelle Tyner’s direction, rendering a slow-burning crescendo. Humour exists in clever one-liners that never crystalise as jokes – so as not to make a crutch out of callousness. Sensitivity reigns, as does the auditory gut-punch of the show’s ending.
Sitting (In Silence) is running until 31 August 2026 at Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Summerhall. Tickets can be found here.
Image provided by Terracotta Productions to The Student for press use.
