As Alix (a trickster spirit guide) in the play says, ‘We are taught how to celebrate, but we are never taught how to grieve.’ Loss and grieve are still ‘taboo’ subjects, but the play showed us that stories, which give us the possibility to make sense of our world in the safe space of imagination, and kind people can help us deal with difficult situations.
In the play sixteen-year-old Ella has found it difficult to socialise and she is also plagued with panic attacks since her beloved father died one year ago. As her mother has also been emotionally overwhelmed by the loss, the two have not managed to work through their grief together. On the evening of the first anniversary of her father’s death, the trickster spirit Alix appears to Ella to help her through the coming day as a sort of personal spirit guide. However, Alix has no experience in this sensitive area and his/her strategy is to distract Ella from the painful memory of her father and any flashbacks on this difficult day. By provoking bizarre and comical incidents Alix sometimes makes matters worse for Ella. At school Ella is paired with the cool Bethany and the new classmate Charlie for a group project. When they rehearse their creative presentation of the Greek myth of ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ Ella has a panic attack but Bethany manages to calm her down and Charlie is also very kind and understanding towards Ella. However, during another rehearsal Ella has an emotional breakdown. Though this proves to be a liberating breakthrough since she finally manages to let go of her father – just as Orpheus learns to let go of Eurydice – and thus also finds a path to reconciliation with her mother. In the end, Alix has guided Ella through the day and her grief and can leave with the certainty that Ella has people in the real world to support her.
The play ‘The Other Side if Goodbye’ and the four talented and enthusiastic actors and actresses dealt with relevant themes such as loss, grief, anxiety, love and friendship in a sensitive and sometimes humorous way which was entertaining and worth seeing.
Mag. Helga Schuster-Messner
