Hopeless

This show was at the Sweet Werks Central venue, located a few minutes away from North Street and nicely tucked away in Middle Street. 

Upon entering, the staff were very friendly and I got my tickets printed. Inside there was a nice little café establishment, all-gender toilets, an interactive table and to my right looked like one of the studios, I couldn’t tell if it was Studio 1 or 2 yet. While in the café, I picked up a leaflet on the show to remind myself of what I was seeing today, a solo performance by Leyla Josephine.

As I arrived early, I got a chance to sit down and listen to the atmosphere. Calm, friendly and quiet chatter fill the room - the guests here respect the fact that there is a show going on. I even spotted some Brighton Fringe Staff Members, keeping things in check and making sure everything runs smoothly.

Eventually one of the staff members finally made the announcement that she was ready to accept tickets, so I made my way into Studio 1, which was the one downstairs. Upon entering, I noticed Leyla was already on stage, in a bed, with a phone and bedlight.

The show kicked off with Leyla not wanting to do the show, but she eventually got out of bed to do it. What followed was improv acting, some audience interaction, poetry and an in-depth story of her life, her experiences and how she spent most of her time in bed, before eventually deciding to take a walk from Crawley to Glasgow, tracing the footsteps of her great-great-grandfather. At the end, she mentioned how hope can be found even in the hopeless life “as time moves on without being told to and we move on with our lives because we have to.”

Using only her phone, the bed, a jumper and a number of sound effects (including the trailer audio for The Day After Tomorrow), Leyla made the show come to life with her humour, poems and reflections on her own life, all which lead to one important message: Hope can’t stay in bed.

Overall, it was a great show and I recommend it to those that wish to have a interesting look on finding hope in the hopeless.