The accomplished actress and theatre maker Adie Mueller brings the R&D version of her show Another Goodbye to The Junction, in Cambridge. Her 55-minute show tells the story of the death of her mother in 2020. During the open conversation that rounds off the evening, audience members can speak freely about aspects of their own bereavement – in this instance, in group chats led by staff from the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity. This demonstrates that Mueller succeeds in one of her goals: to get us all talking more openly about death. Given the number of people who lost loved ones during the Covid pandemic, one imagines there are many out there for whom this poignant play would strike a chord, prompting more reflection on the nature of grief and giving them an opportunity to talk about it that they may crave.
There is a natural respect shown by an audience to a performer who is about to tell the story of the loss of a parent. Yet there is a sense here of respect being extended in the other direction, too: the audience are encouraged to take a hot drink into the auditorium with them and offered a blanket. Tissue boxes are strategically placed at the end of each row of seats, for tears will inevitably be shed in this safe and comforting environment. Each audience member is also given a mysterious envelope on the way in, and it is a sign of how absorbing the story is that I had completely forgotten about my envelope by the time we were asked to open them.
Adie Mueller has the professionalism and self-control required to be able to relive her final trip to see her mother, as she lay dying, in front of an audience of strangers. The set design is simple but effective. As Adie takes a flight to Germany for what she knows could be her last meeting with her mother, images and video footage projected onto two screens behind her conjure a strong sense of place. The images of her mother’s death bed were displayed with particular care, showing only the creases in the sheets and the rising and falling of the duvet, as Adie’s mother struggles to keep breathing, “in an effort that will surely exhaust her.” When Adie strokes her mother’s arm and says all the things she wants to say to her, we feel as though we are in the room with her, urging her not to leave those things unsaid.
Against the backdrop of the understated set, some of Adie’s gestures make a powerful impression: her hand reaching out across the bedclothes as she bids her mother goodbye; the undertaker tugging sharply at the legs so that the head fits inside the coffin; the planting of a redcurrant bush, in a joyous exercise of creating new life. By inviting the audience to perform little actions from time to time, such as holding out their hands or feeling the warmth of their hot drink, she draws them closer and helps them stay focused on the story.
Another Goodbye tells a story that is deeply personal, but anyone who has lost a loved one will find in it much that they can identify with. I am sure that they will also be able to draw strength from it. Adie Mueller deserves great praise for confronting this subject with warmth and unflinching honesty. The open conversation that followed the event was well-judged and it was a pleasure to hear the staff of the Arthur Rank Hospice talk with such passion about the work they do.
