“Lyricism, language play and poetic physical performance combine in this visceral and intuitive portrait of mental illness,” say the makers of the rather intense-sounding The Disappearance of Sadie Jones.

 

Drawing inspiration from Strindberg’s Dream Play, the latest work from writer and theatre-maker Hannah Silva depicts the story of Sadie; a young woman battling a desire to disappear from her own life. As she leads her sister and her boyfriend into the strange landscape of her subconscious, those closest to her are pulled into the depths of her psyche.

 

Hannah Silva says: “The play was written from a gut impulse, as a kind of protest. I tried to get beneath the surface of language, in an attempt to communicate emotions and feelings that can’t be expressed in logical, syntactically correct sentences. The piece always operates in relation to reality, but I want to take us right into Sadie’s world. I want us to see her, from her perspective, from the inside, and to glimpse her understanding of ‘disappearance’.”

 

Hannah has performed at the Tokyo Design Centre, Krikri International Festival of Polyphony in Belgium, Poetry Hearings in Berlin and throughout the UK at festivals including Latitude, the Edinburgh Fringe and Stanza. Her solo show, Opposition toured nationally throughout 2011-12. She has written for Radio 3 and regularly appears on The Verb. Her latest play Gagged has been shortlisted for the Leslie Scalapino Award for innovative women playwrights.

 

The new show’s dates at the Lantern – October 8 and 9 – are among the first of a UK tour. Tickets are available here.