The Man Who Fell to Pieces - Tinderbox Theatre Company - Theatre review

Oh. My. God. I have just returned from the theatre and I am a hot mess. I don’t think I’ve ever been moved to tears as much as this whilst watching a play.

‘The Man who fell to pieces’ is a play about depression. It is emotional, touching, raw and powerful. Somehow, it also manages to be funny.

We are only ten minutes into the show and already the tears are running down my cheeks. It’s the part when John, who is having difficulties communicating his feelings to his fiancé Caroline, share a tender dance. I can feel the pain between them. The music, beautifully composed by Katie Richardson, adds to the emotion, making the atmosphere in the theatre palpable. I can see several audience members hastily trying to wipe a tear from their eyes.

I meanwhile, am a hot mess. The tears are flowing effortlessly and I’m completely absorbed in this wonderful play.

All four actors are incredible, the music is beautiful and the set is clever. The physical theatre, the dance and the words that this production uses to describe depression are very cleverly put together.

And did I mention the humour? How can the tears be tripping you one minute, and the next you’re laughing out loud.  

One in four suffer from depression. Surely that means that almost everyone is affected by it – if not directly themselves, than by a family member or loved one.

Having suffered from depression myself, maybe this is why this play resonates so powerfully with me. Because how can you explain what’s going on in your head when on the outside, you appear fine?

That’s why the physical theatre and dance worked so well with this show. The framed pictures of him collapsing represents his mind collapsing. The bag of bits on the kitchen table a metaphor for his scattered mind.

But let’s not forget that humour, the typists in the telesales office, with their pretend typing and their ridiculous masks. The overbearing boss with his head inside an expanding picture-frame.

When we’re hearing about the writer, how he walked those streets for miles, how he felt like if he didn’t stop walking, he would surely jump, his courage and bravery astounded me. The tears were back. How can someone use such incredible pain, pain that we normally hush hush away, and create something so beautiful? Something that will surely touch many people’s lives.

Afterwards, when the lights had gone up, the atmosphere in the theatre was visible. It was as if people couldn’t move, as if they needed to sit for a while and digest what they had just seen. People sat on, people talked, people hugged. There was a shared connection.

I am truly privileged to have watched this production.

I wonder if this will return for a third time. I wonder if it will go on tour around UK and Ireland.

I do hope others get to experience this very special piece of theatre.