Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Love Beyond
Raw Material and Vanishing Point with Aberdeen Performing Arts
Genre: Drama, Performance Art, Physical Theatre, Theatre
Venue: Assembly Gordon Aikman Theatre
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Written by Ramesh Meyyappan, Love Beyond is an award winning show about Harry, who uses sign language to communicate and suffers from a form of dementia which can cause hallucinations. His wife, Elise, is long dead and he comes to ‘end of life’ palliative care in a hospice, bringing with him few belongings but many memories. Harry’s carer provides him with some solace, but just as she begins to learn Harry’s sign language, he begins to forget it, leaving him in a unique world where he must confront the only thing that remains – himself.
Review
Love Beyond is written and performed in the language of movement. Beautiful lyrical storytelling which swells the heart with sorrow but is uplifting because of the craft of it. A simple, sad and perhaps not uncommon story – a man with dementia comes to spend his final days in a care home, he struggles to make his wants and needs known which leads to a loss of dignity, a diligent and thoughtful carer learns to communicate with him as he loses his language and in the end the man dies. The complexity in the plotting is brought about by the character’s interactions and shifts in time; an old Harry (Ramesh Meyyappan), a young Harry (Rinkoo Barpaga) and Elise (Amy Kennedy) all appear in Harry’s imagination. We learn of Elise and Harry’s first date, their joy in courtship and marriage and the tragedy that strikes them down. In the present day Harry’s carer (Elicia Daly) does her best to meet his needs with compassion knowing nothing of his life or what is upsetting him, only grasping snatches as her BSL skills start to improve “Jack? Are you saying Jack? I don’t know a Jack,” as Harry cries incoherently trying to tell her.
What elevates the plot to such outstanding theatre is its execution – the acting, movement, dialogue (although the spoken word is sparse), soundscape, lighting and visual effects are all excellent and as a whole create such a profound piece. One of many stand out moments was Elise swimming, free and alive in ways her husband cannot be, the actor seemingly floating in mid air . The soundscape opens and closes with waves on a shore, a small pile of pebbles spot lit.
The writer (and actor performing Old Harry) Meyyappan has developed over 20 years a style of storytelling which is accessible for Deaf people. It uses BSL, visual vernacular (a blend of physical theatre, dance and mime) and spoken word. As the piece starts Old Harry speaks only in BSL, his nurse only in English. By the end Harry has lost his BSL but the nurse can now use it. The hallucinations and dreams are a blend of BSL and VV. The need for captioning or a BSL interpreter on stage are done away with, partly by the use of mirrors so performers can be seen whichever way they are facing. If this review is focusing so much on the technical delivery of the show it is because it is so rare to have such an accessible performance, and one that I am sure is accessible not just to Deaf people but others who might face barriers with communication in mainstream performances.
I checked in with Deaf people in the audience afterwards. Did you understand it all I was asked in return? I didn’t but that speaks to the clever way the production creates equality between hearing and Deaf audiences. Not one person in the audience will get all the nuances but that is a powerful way to share one of the messages of Love Beyond, failure to be heard, to listen and the sad consequences that brings.
To note there are no warnings about content on the show’s promo; it does concern death and loss and is very affecting. When the lights went up at the end there were many dabbing eyes and it takes a while to collect yourself. A testament to the power of art to reach your heart as well as your brain.
