Otherland review

Bittersweet, uplifting and profoundly enlightening, this deeply felt drama from Chris Bush brings remarkable clarity to some knotty and tremendously contentious topics. The story starts with Harry – assigned male at birth, legally married to a woman, Jo. But when she accepts that she can never be happy living within those identities, she begins a daunting journey of personal growth, which sends destabilising ripples through all her relationships.

Directed by multidisciplinary artist Ann Yee, the piece seamlessly blends song, surreal imagery and realistic dialogue scenes, while maintaining a coherent mood. There is something of the heightened intimacy of a folktale told around a campfire here: however dark things may momentarily become, Yee ensures that warmth and lightness permeate the production.

Fizz Sinclair captures every nuance of Harry’s journey, experiencing moments of life-affirming liberation and soul-shrivelling shame as she unlearns her old assumptions and grapples with the complexities of her authentic identity. Jade Anouka’s profoundly likeable Jo movingly struggles to reconcile her conflicting needs, seeking freedom above all, but only ever finding fulfilment in committed, stable relationships. Amanda Wilkin’s Gabby, with whom Jo falls in love, arrives as a breath of fresh air, at first seeming entirely uninhibited and joyful. But she, too, becomes locked into inflexible modes of thinking as her overwhelming desire to have children comes to dominate her thoughts.

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