In Other Words
★★★★☆ Painfully vital
Studio Theatre: Fri 2- Sat 3 May
Review by Rebecca Mahar
A compelling look into the life and struggles of a couple dealing with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, TBC Productions’ In Other Words pairs painful truth with the commitment of love and the power of music, in a play that strikes at the heart of humanity.
Written by Matthew Seager, In Other Words begins before the audience enter. Arthur (Seager) and Jane (Lydia White) lounge and chat in their sitting room, holding hands and only occasionally glancing at the crowd filing in.
Matthew Seager and Lydia White. Pic Tom Dixon.
When the doors close and the lights come down, however, the tone shifts: Jane rises and puts on a cardigan, and Arthur shrinks into his chair, both of them visibly melting from vivacity into catatonia.
Jane turns away from the audience, the lights shift and the action begins with Arthur displaying involuntary movements and an inability to produce speech as Jane readies him to go somewhere. Her exhaustion is evident. A clock ticks, over-loud, in the background.
It’s clear we’ve begun at the end of the story. Indeed, with a shift of light and sound, Seager soon springs from the chair: a younger, vital Arthur, who engages Jane in a playful dance. Another shift, and we are transported to Jane and Arthur’s first meeting, an accidental encounter, to the background music of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me To The Moon”.
precision and skill
The unfolding of Jane and Arthur’s story is intermittently interrupted by them turning to speak to the audience in direct address, commenting on its events from an omniscient future perspective. Seager and White navigate these abrupt transitions, ever more drastic as the play progresses – along with Arthur’s cognitive decline – with precision and skill.
Lydia White. Pic Tom Dixon.
These interruptions are the play’s only real weak point. Forming a parallel narrative to the one they describe, they do not manage to function as a framing device, and there is no indication as to why or when they happen. Without this type of grounding, they become untethered from the larger play, opening it up to distracting questions.
They also suggest that Arthur and Jane have told and enacted this story before, with comments such as “I hate this bit” before returning to a particularly challenging moment in their lives. The play would be stronger with either a bit more of this aspect, indicating how it occurs, or by fully committing to nonlinear storytelling without direct address.
terrifying progression
Sound design is integral to In Other Words. In addition to the Fly Me To The Moon motif recurring in moments of strife and confusion to reconnect Jane and Arthur to one another, designer Iida Aino brings the ticking of clocks and fizzing background noises that signify Arthur’s worsening dementia. These are well placed and executed, augmented by reverberating voiceovers that help the audience feel the terrifying progression of the disease’s effects.
Matthew Seager and Lydia White. Pic Tom Dixon.
Will Adler’s lighting partners well with this aural design, establishing time and place, as well as stepping into the unreal and menacing when we are inside Arthur’s mind as he struggles to parse the degradation of the familiar.
Andy Routledge’s skilful direction, supported by choreography from Holly France, makes the absolute most of the energy and skill Seager and White bring to the table.
respect and emotional intensity
In Other Words tackles an immensely difficult, complicated subject with respect and emotional intensity. Near the end of the play, when memory and reality are rapidly slipping away from Arthur and he has lashed out at Jane, her invocation of Fly Me To The Moon leads to a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking final moment of lucidity between the two.
A masterclass in truth and vulnerability from White and Seager, this moment alone is worth the ticket, and the ache it leaves behind.
Running time: One hour and 10 minutes (no interval)
Studio Theatre, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL.
Fri 2 – Sat 3 May 2025
Evenings: 7:30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
In Other Words on tour
Beacon Arts Centre, Custom House Quay, Greenock, PA15 1HJ
Tue 6/Wed 7 May 2025
Evenings: 7pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Eastgate Theatre, Eastgate, Peebles EH45 8AD
Thurs 8 May 2025
Evenings: 7:30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Lanternhouse, South Kildrum Ring Road, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire G67 2UF
Fri 9 May 2025
Evenings: 7:30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Lyth Arts Centre, Wick KW1 4UD
Sun 11 May 2025
Evenings: 7:30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Eden Court, Bishop’s Road, Inverness IV3 5SA
Tue 13 May 2025
Evening: 7pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL
Mon 19 – Sat 24 May 2025
Mon – Sat: 7pm; Sat mat: 3.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
TBC Productions Instagram: @productions_tbc.
TBC Productions Facebook: @productionstbc.
Lydia White and Matthew Seager. Pic Tom Dixon.
ENDS
