Hysterical

“I’m trapped in a strange play and I don’t know how to act in it.”

June’s finally landed her dream job at an advertising agency but when her first task is to rebrand water, she gets the feeling she might be in over her head…. In her struggle to balance a competitive workplace with mothering her mentally ill brother, she finds herself teetering on the edge. When the physical world of the hospital and her workplace start to blend, she begins to question her own sanity and position in society.

Grappling with the sanctity of sanity, this darkly comedic, absurdist and interactive play blends bold new writing with clowning, puppetry and mime. Drawing on the creative teams’ experiences, Hysterical examines how gender and modern day pressures take their toll on mental health and questions whether societal structures mean we’re destined to fail; urging us to ask ‘Is mental health a deeply political question?’ Hysterical is a co-production between HOAX and Luminary, working in creative collaboration with psychology academics and clinicians at UCL.

‘Unhinged, uncomfortable, unbridled… genius.’
A Younger Theatre