Review: Happy Now by Lucinda Coxon

National Theatre: Happy Now by Lucinda Coxon (World Premiere) Director: Thea Sharrock Michael: Stanley Townsend Kitty: Olivia Williams Johnny, Kitty’s husband: Jonathan Cullen Miles: Dominic Rowan Bea, Miles wife: Emily Joyce June, Kitty’s mother: Anne Reid I went to see Happy Now with my mother while she was visiting me in London. We were very lucky to get the last two available tickets, both returns, both front row seats! After the show my mother turned to me and said “That is like my life! I am so glad to know that I am not alone and crazy!” I thought that was such a wonderful complement to give the author and actors. The show dealt with the everyday realities of marriage, relationships, and having kids. Happy Now was very relatable regardless of age or marital status. There were more than several moments during the show where the audience, myself included, had a parade of different emotional responses. While some people were laughing, others were watching uncomfortably, mainly because one didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about the blatantly obvious bittersweet truth about people, how we function in relationships and our own denial. Before I go on I have to applaud the director for bringing together such a brilliantly cohesive show, and bringing forth such vulnerability from all the actors. Also applause for the set designer, Jonathan Fensom, who designed a set that was highly stylized, yet somehow generic, so that their home could have been anyone’s home, and very practical in term of scene changes. Each character, especially Kitty, whom I thought gave an especially courageous performance, and Michael, who somehow managed to be completely repulsive and attractive at the same time, were so deliciously and scarily human, all completely neurotic in their own hilarious, frightening and distinct way, giving each a rich personal history, and that made them all easy to relate to. I walked out of that show both doused with a cold bucket of reality and with a small flame of hope for human communication, truthfulness and actual connection within society. Admitting we have a problem is the first step toward recovery.