INTERVIEW: Olivia Hannah

Taking a unique approach to storytelling, Olivia Hannah’s Shit Life Crisis blends a multitude of components in its search to bring heart, soul and humour into topics not usually discussed in polite society, let alone on stage.

“The main aim with the show was to think about how we could start a conversation about cancer, not just the tale of what it must be like to receive a diagnosis, but also to explore other parts of cancer, like how it effects relationships and what it feels like to survive it.”Promoted as a ‘dark comedy sing-along karaoke theatre show’ (“don’t worry, you don’t have to sing if you don’t want to and no one will be forced!” Olivia assures) Shit Life Crisis is produced by Silent Uproar, a Northern-based theatre company creating experiences for an alternative theatre crowd whilst covering daring and challenging topics.

“The topic of cancer is far from funny,” continues Olivia, “but what we were working on was a way to tell a real, emotional story; and as we know, most of our lives, whether we’re in a good moment or a not so good one, are mixed with contrasting emotions so even in heartbreak we can find ourselves in uncontrollable laughter with our friends. Those are the stories and the moments we’re trying to tell here.”

Focused on two friends and their journey through and after having cancer, Shit Life Crisis explores parts of the journey seldom mentioned. “A close relative had cancer and she was explaining to me some of her realities of living with cancer, in some cases that meant not hearing from certain friends any more, in other cases it meant trying to deal with the challenges of long stretches of brain fog and feeling like you’re in a completely different body if you’re lucky enough to survive. The challenges I’m trying to explore are the ideas of ‘what does it mean to still not feel well even when others are saying you’ve recovered’ and ‘what would it feel like if you felt like you were in a brand new body’.”

Telling the story through emotional tales, dark humour and karaoke (“I can’t tell you which songs will be sung, but I can tell you that they’re well known and most people should be able to sing along if they’d like to,” she confirms), the show is heading out on a three week, four venue tour of the UK, stopping at Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre from Thursday 5th – Saturday 7th June. “I’m both nervous and excited at the moment, I can’t wait to get the show on the road, and to help share the story with others. The ideas of identity crisis and friendship, as well as exploring the topic of what it means to show up for someone, are becoming more and more important.These are ideas well worth exploring.”