Written by Annie for Theatre and Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own

James Rushbrooke’s latest play “Before I’m Dead” has taken residency at The Glitch Theatre for a limited 4 week run. Having won the 2026 VCA playwriting award, the play is continuing its success with this run and hopes to bring the story to more audiences.

The story centres around Zara, a 17 year old girl with a terminal diagnosis, and a lot of anger for the world. She’s pissed off, and her final project is to record her own eulogy, and have it played on the radio. She’s got a lot to say, and not a lot of time. She begins seeing a new therapist; Stuart, who although reluctant at first, can see how important this is to Zara, and so decides to help her with this challenge. The interaction between Zara and Stuart is beautifully honest, and moves with natural ease. There’s a lot of care and consideration and their relationship, albeit professional, blossoms across the show.

Rushbrooke has created two impressively complex characters, and although the show is only 65 minutes long, we delve deep into their worlds and instantly are connected to them both. The play has excellent pace, and this is all merit to Rushbrooke’s brilliant script. Filled naturally with wit and satirical comedic moments, the humour aids the anguish of the story, and reminds us that we often find humour in the darkest places in order to cope.

What seems initially to be a play about a rather heavy subject matter, actually is much more complicated and refined. Rushbrooke’s script delves into the question of what it really means to “see” someone. Not just the performative persona people often adopt to shield themselves, or cover up their hurt or fear, but to see the real person behind the mask. The subject matter is treated with the utmost of care, and considered very honestly. We learn a great deal about both Zara and Stuart, and it’s hard to not become fully absorbed in their story.

Myla Carmen plays Zara with heaps of care and protection. They have fully understood the character and treats her with respect and honesty. Despite how headstrong and passionate Zara seems, her immaturity shines through a lot, and Carmen plays this very cleverly, so we never forget the innocence of her character, and how confusing and scary this must be. Carmen is a very confident performer and speaks with power, understanding and conviction. At times however some lines were unfortunately lost or hard to hear, but this perhaps was due to the nature of the seating set up of the space, which didn’t always make some of the staging easy to view.

Pete Ashmore plays the patient therapist Stuart with excellent composure. It’s evident how well he understands his character and his story. He is patient, caring and calm - and it is very clear how much he cares, or sympathises, with Zara. He stays true to his morals, even if they’re not always the “right thing” to do, and this really humanises him. His relationship with Zara is a really considered approach and creates a warm environment but always at an arms length.

Their interactions beautifully play off of one another, and although we’d expect Stuart to be able to “see” Zara due to the nature of his job, it is even more moving to witness Stuart’s reactions to Zara truly seeing him. Oli Savage’s direction really explores this and makes it feel natural and present. The use of the space is well thought out at most times, keeping pivotal moments central but not relying solely on this space. It is a tricky space to use, but it is accomplished well and creates an impressively intimate performance.

Despite the heavy nature of the plot at the core, Before I’m Dead is an incredibly beautiful play. One which on first reading the synopsis, you might be apprehensive to view, but actually it’s difficult to leave in any way but utterly moved. Rushbrooke’s script is impressive and there is no doubt their career is only just beginning.

Before I’m Dead plays at The Glitch from 25 May to 22 June 2026.

★★★★★

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