Reasons To Stay Alive imagined for the Stage (AD)

I was kindly invited to the press night for the première of Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive, imagined for the stage by Jonathan Watkins and with text by April De Angelis*.

It’s been quite a few years since I was last at Northern Stage so I was really looking forward to returning to the venue in my hometown of Newcastle and a rare night off mammy duties.

I’d invited my friend Catherine to attend the evening with me and I knew we would be in for  treat.

For those not familiar with Matt’s bestselling memoir, this is the true story of his journey out of crisis; a profoundly uplifting exploration of living and loving better. At 24 Matt’s world collapsed under the weight of depression.

And this is the first theatrical adaptation of Matt Haig’s frank and funny bestseller.

This play with music and movement, imagined for the stage by Jonathan Watkins, celebrates what it means to be alive.

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What did we think of Reasons to Stay Alive?

The play opens with older Matt setting the scene.

When Matt was 24 he very nearly killed myself.

He was living in Ibiza at the time, in a very nice villa, on the quiet east coast of the island.

The villa was right next to a cliff.

In the midst of depression he walked out to the edge of the cliff and looked at the sea.

Although it was the most beautiful view he had ever known, he didn’t care. He was too busy trying to summon the courage needed to throw himself over the edge.

This was a really difficult scene to watch.

On stage older Matt reasons with his younger self that he has reasons to stay alive.

Thankfully he didn’t step over the edge.

Instead, he walked back inside and threw up from the stress of it all.

We are then taken on a journey through the next three years of Matt’s life and his depression.

Matt is in very real agony.

Panic, despair and a daily battle to walk to the corner shop without collapsing to the ground.

We experience a panic attack right alongside Matt and it feels very real for the audience too.

It’s a very simple stage set up of a brain that comes apart and moves around.

The whole play is poignant, highly emotive and extremely moving.

We saw how depression impacted every aspect of his life, his relationships and career.

Books, writing and music helped him as well as the support from his girlfriend and parents.

The parts of the play where we hear the unhelpful things people have said to Matt during his depression and the things that people say to those who are depressed, that you wouldn’t say to someone with another life threatening illness; really hits home.

People who are depressed are ill.

Telling someone to just pull themselves together when they are gripped by demons is beyond unhelpful and insensitive.

The whole cast are brilliant and everyone bar younger Matt takes on multiple roles with different accents very well.

I particularly enjoyed it when they recited tweets from people with their reactions to the book and their personal reasons to live.

It shows the far reaching and profound impact Matt’s book and experiences have had for other people.

I wasn’t expecting there to be so much humour within the show and there were many laugh out loud moments.

Having not read the book yet (it’s on my TBR list) I was still able to thoroughly enjoy the play.

I was genuinely moved and I feel like I’ve got a better understanding of depression, anxiety and panic attacks now.

Afterwards staff were handing out cards where people could write down their reasons for staying alive which were displayed on a big board near the box office.

If you’re able to get tickets please do. It’s a great play, very well executed and very much so worth an hour and 20 minutes of your time.

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Reasons to Stay Alive is at Northern Stage until October 19 to book tickets visit the website and then continues the tour with the next stop at Manchester.

For more information about the rest of the tour visit the Sheffield Theatres website.

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About Northern Stage

Northern Stage is a registered charity and a theatre. It is a partnership of artists, writers, makers, digital creators and businesses who exist for more than profit.

Every year thousands come to create and share unique live experiences at Northern Stage. Their home in Newcastle is an inspirational and creative place (with a mean cafe/bar) which belongs to you. Everyone is welcome.

Northern Stage Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RH

0191 230 5151

info@northernstage.co.uk

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*Disclaimer

This review has been written with 100% honesty. 

I was not financially compensated for this post. I was invited to the press preview of this play in return for an honest review.  The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own based on my own experience.

If you would like your company/service featured on rachaelstray.com either in the form of review, sponsored post or an advertising slot, please feel free to contact me at rachaelstray@gmail.com

Please visit my contact/work with me page for more information.

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Other review posts

See what my mam and I thought of The King and I on stage.

Here’s my review of independent film Lancaster Skies

We saw cheeky chappy Olly Murs live

Here’s what I thought of Chris Ramsey’s standup tour Just Happy to Get Out of the House

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