Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Dots
Annie Cheung
Genre: Comedy, Solo Show, Theatre
Venue: theSpace @ Niddry Street
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Dots mixes comedy with its regular bedfellow, tragedy, in a solo performance laying bare the struggles of a high-achieving, yet insecure mind. Moving and darkly humorous, it explores the psychology of insecure an overachiever trying to match the expectations of those they love in a relentless battle against feelings of doubt and hopelessness.
Review
There’s a rhythmic beat, like that of a heart, thumping quietly. A body lies, curled in the foetal position on the stage. White balloons lie scattered on the floor. A single black balloon floats alone, tethered to the floor with a line and weight.
That’s the scene greeting the audience as it files into theSpace’s tight Niddry Street Studio space for Dots, an exploration of the psychology of this insecure overachiever, trying to match the expectations of those she loves. As the piece develops, we explore her relentless battle against feelings of doubt and hopelessness.
This fascinating, autobiographical piece of theatre has been created and is performed by Annie Cheung, an actress and theatre-maker from Hong Kong, and mixes comedy with its regular bedfellow, tragedy, in a solo performance laying bare the struggles of a high-achieving, yet insecure mind.
Moving and darkly humorous in almost equal parts, Cheung explores the different parts of her life, from growing up in Hong Kong in the latter part of the 20th century to her search for a meaning and peace, as she battles for release from the crushing weight of parental expectation. Why does she feel guilty for not feeling happy? Why does she need to conform? Why can’t she feel passively suicidal if she want to? It’s her life, her body, her mind.
Her life twists and turns through a series of relationships, none of which provide the life satisfaction she seeks, nor do they garner parental favour. The one relationship where she does find fulfilment is reluctant to return her obvious love and devotion, leaving Cheung, now rapidly approaching middle age, looking at a decidedly dystopian future.
Cheung is a consummate weaver of a story, her words given extra meaning (often darkly graphic) with her precise choreography, her feline movements allowing her to exploit every inch of the stage, and a bit more besides. Her voice is clear and crisp and her sense of delivery and timing particularly acute – she knows just how to create tension, pathos and poignancy, then how to gently release it, like the air from one of her many balloons, with a humorous aside. Her impressive vocal dexterity helps her to articulate the many and varied people and situations that enter, and then leave, her environment. And it’s “pin-drop” stuff at times as she draws the audience ever closer into her story.
Cheung addresses a number of subjects that can be difficult to articulate but her message is clear – find and confront those subconscious blocks that are holding you back and set your spirits free. Definitely recommended.
