FringeReview Worldwide 2025
Dear Adult
Amy Sze Productions
Genre: Comedy, Family, Movement, Theatre
Venue: Dice Theater
Festival: FringeReview Worldwide
Low Down
Dear Adult is a show so wholesome and heartfelt that if you have any heart at all, you will cry with joy. It is a passionate reminder that our hidden child is not lost but waiting to be found.
Review
Dear Adult:
I would have never gone to see Dear Adult on my own. Family-friendly theatre? Yuck. Inner child? That’s some Freudian nonsense. Coming into Dear Adult, I knew this would not be a show for me. I seek out the most hardcore, nihilistic theatre I can find as a viewer. I perform the most in-yer-face queer theatre as an artist. Dear Adult is going to be some childish stuff compared to that.
Oh… dear reader… was I wrong as I sat tearing up in the final moments of Dear Adult. Dear Adult warms the heart of even the most sour of critics. Through tight movement work, passionate and sweet performances, and a beautiful exploration of its themes of our inner child, it is a work that will speak to the young and old.
Under tight direction by Wency Lam, no detail goes unmissed. In fact, it’s this attention to little details that create the show’s biggest reveals. The show starts as a narrator telling a story about a young girl who loves to imagine. She goes on adventures with her imaginary friend. However, this is far from the true purpose or plot of the show. As we begin to understand our narrator’s connection to the story, the light bulb turns on. Suddenly, the audience is left noticing the subtle hints of costuming, story, and set design that point to the larger story at play.
The audience was captivated by the energy of performers Eden Rae Nathenson, Maggie Chan Tin Lok, Jonathan Yang, and Lam. There is commitment and strength in all their movements. It becomes especially apparent whenever the more child-like movements give way to controlled and masterful movement theatre.
Family-friendly theatre is only as successful as it appeals to the whole family. I am pleased to say it did. The children sitting in the front row were shouting and dancing along moment to moment. They appeared to be following along, even calling out to the performers when things turn troubling to make sure they were okay. For the adults, as I looked around, we all appeared to be tearing up. A mother in the front row wiped away tears from her eyes while her excited kids cheered on the performers. Young audiences will enjoy the fun of the story and the humor in the actor’s performances. The adults will deeply connect with the larger themes.
Dear Adult put a smile on my face. It made me remember some childhood memories and stirred emotions I didn’t think this old(ish) cynic still had in him. So thank you for that. Even at our darkest and saddest, we must all remember that inner child is still inside us waiting for us to take them into the light.
Sincerely yours:
A humble reviewer
