Narc. Magazine Online
Reliably informed
Jacob Easton reviews a nuanced performance of contemporary dance and theatre which reflects on loneliness and mental health
Image by Elly Welford
Incisive, thoughtful, and artistically stunning, Northern Rascals’ Sunny Side lit up Dance City, delivering on years of careful planning and producing a profound work of art.
The show follows the protagonist K, an ironically depersonalised name for a character so personally familiar to many. K is 18-years-old, working minimum wage and devastatingly lonely. Occupying K, is his increasingly distant friend Danny who has left him for university.
The incisiveness of the work, its ability to put a finger on such nuanced moments of loneliness and reflection was simply incredible. Corny as this may sound, it really felt as if the stage was extending out into the audience as the show progressed, that I and the rest of the audience were somehow on stage, embodied.
And this was no coincidence, the show was developed over four years and was shaped by the voices of over 1,000 young people. From this, Sunny Side explored its discoveries with a full-toolkit, a creative fusion of contemporary dance, theatre, spoken word as well as a superb lighting and sound design that focused the performance even more impactfully.
From the outset, Northern Rascals made it clear what underscores Sunny Side: that one in six school-aged children in the UK today suffers from a mental health problem, with an average delay of ten years between the onset of symptoms and intervention. They go on to say that through Sunny Side, they aim to spark conversation, raise awareness, and encourage support for young people facing similar challenges.
They achieve this, and so much more.
