Madeline LeeMass Epidemic Hysteria is a play with a jumble of ideas, ranging from the dancing plague and Charcot’s hysteria theory. It includes strong acting, beautiful dancing and some somewhat questionable magic tricks. The ideas put forward about hysteria in the 1800s are fascinating, but it feels too disjointed from scene to scene and the jumps between theories make the experience confusing.
The whole show swaps between traditional scenes and breaking the fourth wall to narrate. The narration explains the irregular and random creation of the show. These moments also encompass audience participation and magic tricks. Two out of three of the tricks are quite obviously done and therefore don’t have the bewitching effect they could have. They also feel slow paced compared to the quick intriguing scenes about hysteria. This is all conducted by the entertaining Susie Coutts who is bold throughout and holds the stage brilliantly. She has a casual energy on stage that puts everyone at ease, even if they are being ask to do audience participation. However this audience participation itself is slow and cringey. Coutts persists brilliantly, but it feels quite awkward and recurs a lot throughout the show, when actually the best bits of the show are their own scenes, which I would love to see more of.
Mass Epidemic Hysteria goes from re-enactments of the 1877 demonstrations of hysteria, to the 1518 dancing plague in Strasbourg. While all of this is going on, Chloe Holliday is beautifully dancing in a see-through box. Her movements are agile and fascinating, but she does fade into the background of the main scenes. This is the case until her own final speech, when she breaks from the box and lectures honestly about human rights. Holliday’s dancing is hypnotising and she delivers a vivid performance in this production.
The rest of the cast all move charmingly, with agility and poise that is exciting to watch. These moments are a stand out for me, as the choreography matches the music well and everyone is mesmerising to witness. Dominique Dalton, Lucy Bishop and Mj Lee along with Holliday and Coutts are all natural performers who act with authenticity on stage. This is delightful to see.
Overall Mass Epidemic Hysteria is a compelling show, but this production doesn’t feel quite complete yet and is still very much at a workshop stage. The actors are strong, the idea is good and the choreography is stunning; now all the show needs is a more coherent series of scenes. I thoroughly enjoy watching these compelling parts of history play out, but just wish they could connect more and say something more conclusively about hysteria.
Mass Epidemic Hysteria played Greenwich Theatre until 29 June. For more information, see the Greenwich Theatre website.