An upbeat look at depression comes to Bedford

As part of its first UK tour, Silent Uproar presents A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) at the Quarry Theatre on Thursday, October 11 after wowing crowds and critics alike at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Written by Olivier Award- winner Jon Brittain, with music by Matthew Floyd Jones, the show is influenced by the company’s personal experiences and informed by interviews with people living with mental health problems and medical professionals. The company describes it as a “joyful, buoyant, gleeful, slightly silly, sugar coated, unrelenting and completely super happy show ... except for all the bits about depression”.

The show is supported by NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group, which funded performances at the University of Hull and arranged for the cast and crew to have mental health awareness training via Hull and East Yorkshire MIND.

Alex Mitchell, artistic director of Silent Uproar, said: “We wanted to make a show that was entertaining, accessible and discussed depression without being a depressing show. From suffering with anxiety and bouts of depression, and seeing friends and loved ones suffer, I wanted something that said ‘it doesn’t matter if you feel rubbish today, it’s OK not to be OK. And most of all it’s OK to talk about it because the talking helps’.”

The comedic and production style of the show draws from cinematic sources as diverse as Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Pixar’s Inside Out, Juno, and musicals such as Cabaret and Chicago.

In another pioneering move, the company is not charging a fixed price for tickets but is letting theatregoers pay what they wish, in the hope of attracting more varied audiences.

The show runs from 7.30pm to 8.30pm. Visit www.quarrytheatre.org.uk/shows/super-happy-story-feeling-super-sad to book.