Simon Ward reviews This Year I Am Going To Die at the Hen and Chickens Theatre

As this one man show begins, the audience are attendees at the funeral of Jojo (Jonas Feind). He is prostrate on the floor clutching a sunflower, as though in an open coffin. It doesn’t take long before he sits up, takes a headcount, and lets us into the secret that he just wanted to see who would turn up and what they would say about him when he is dead. For this is Jonas Feind’s meditation on his struggles with the concept of mortality. It is more a philosophical than a practical one – he is young and healthy but he cannot escape the premonition that somehow, as the title suggests, this year he is going to die.

Under the direction of Lizzie Sharpe, Feind makes an engaging host. He is sufficiently aware of the absurdity of his situation to poke fun at himself, and there are many laughs along the way as he wrestles with his predicament. He knows that he is, in fact, among the most fortunate people on the planet, but it does not stop his anxiety from chipping in. He gets little help from friends and family on the phone – they are too wrapped up in their own concerns. I would have liked their personas to be developed a little further so that they are distinct enough from Jojo himself. The unseen voice of his therapist (also played by Lizzie Sharpe) provides a welcome corrective when the neurotic musings get too much – she is not afraid to laugh when he goes too far.

Thinking about death almost inevitably leads him to a re-evaluation of what a meaningful life would look like. But that is somewhat handicapped by an obsessive interest in The Sims, a game where the player essentially controls the lives of the simulated people within their imaginary world. With the cycle of life played out multiple times, the inevitable sequence of birth, reproduction, death is emptied of meaning. However, it does allow for celebrating little successes, and apparently for its own secret silly language. Feind did well to win round a crowd who were perhaps not as familiar with this world as he had anticipated. In general he handles interaction with the audience quite well – although it was sometimes unclear whether a question was rhetorical or not. Perhaps there will be more back and forth at the Edinburgh Fringe.

If the ultimate destination of the show is not ground-breaking, it is a highly enjoyable journey. Witnessing Feind find his way through to a kind of acceptance and hope is uplifting and therapeutic for us – we hope that it works for him as well.

This Year I Am Going To Die played at the Hen and Chickens Theatre, 109 St Paul’s Rd London, N1 2NA as a preview prior to a run at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall as part of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival