★★★

Reviewer - Bronagh

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

This show contains swearing, references to suicide and death, as well as stylised violence.

MAD(E) is a brand new production, following the journey of three males who have one thing in common – dealing with mental trauma. Conversations around mental health are luckily more common nowadays, however, men’s mental health seems to be a quieter conversation. MAD(E) has been co-created with boys and young men around the country, bringing their stories and lived experiences to the stage.

The stories explored are so important – masculinity as a whole, dealing with death, immigration, and sexuality. Ash (Lex Stephenson) carries his friend’s ashes in an urn, after live streaming his last moments when he jumps off a bridge. X.o.dus (Nelvin Kiratu) carries soil from the Motherland around his neck. Kei (Max Ngwenya) – pronounced ‘Kay’ – struggles with being bisexual, and his father’s behaviour towards him. He often sleeps in a local graveyard. The three wounded characters come together, and they ultimately heal, dealing with the trauma that once faced them.

I wanted to love MAD(E). I really did. The stories need to be spoken about more, in every medium possible. The mental health of men, young or old, needs to continue to be remembered and spoken about. But at most, I quite liked it. I cannot fault the cast, who really became their characters and put on a great performance. There were points when I was really impressed; the scene where Ash realised his friend was dead nearly had me in tears. That was a real stand-out moment for me, with Stephenson’s performance sending shivers down my spine. These moments were sandwiched between some slumps where I, unfortunately, struggled.

The stories of X.o.dus and Kei also had stand-out moments. From the comedic aspects of X.o.dus’ gran and them dancing together, to Kei remembering how he was described as ‘too girly’ from a young age and being more comfortable sleeping in a graveyard. These will be stories that are very relatable to people out there, and I do applaud the cast for their performances. The whole cast bounces seamlessly between poetry to heartfelt speeches to slow-motion movement, which was all impressive.

The passion was there. But it fell short for me. There were points where I felt like the stories were all over the place and at times, harder to follow. The character of Beira (Clarisse Zamba)– a mythical shapeshifter – slightly confused me. She had the characters under her spell, but me – not so much. Zamba’s other characters – X.o.dus’ grandmother and a game show host, for example- were great and slotted nicely into the stories. Her performance of Beira was not the problem, I just feel like she could have been explored and explained slightly more clearly.

The Pleasance is a quirky little venue. The show took place in the downstairs area, which was not unlike a school yard portacabin. This space has a 72-person capacity, which allows for a cosy and intimate show. Being so up close to the cast is a different experience, allowing for facial expressions to be taken in and eye contact made throughout.

Overall, I did like MAD(E) and I am glad important stories are continuing to be given a spotlight and people out there are being given some hope. With a few tweaks, this could be a brilliant production, it just wasn’t quite there for me yet.