Type – Psychological drama, queer love, relationship heartbreak
If you liked – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Port (KXT)
Forget Me, Please: An exploration of the emotional wreckage left by trauma, illness and the desperate desire to escape pain.
Set over a seven-year timeline, Forget Me, Please tells the story of Andrea and Sasha who meet in the emergency department after both acquiring brain injuries. Focusing on the world of mental health and memory loss, the work looks at the difference in brain injury recovery for a person with a history of mental illness vs recovery for a person without.
As their relationship develops, we see Andrea’s symptoms worsen because of her long-term experience of mental health and PTSD, while Sasha heals and recovers well. Writer Sophie Davies has created a world that offers the ability to forget a person – and from the opening scenes, we learn that Andrea has elected to go through with the memory-wiping procedure.
Designed by Isobel Sanby and Chris Davis, the duo-chromatic production utilises white wooden boxes which are rotated and tipped over, separated and re-merged to create multiple recurring and readable settings. In a completely white world, the only colour comes from Andrea’s teal tracksuit, reflecting the cognitive rigidity and black and white thinking that comes with post-concussion syndrome.
Jessica Meier and Alex Meier’s score builds jarring, atonal chords and eery soundscapes that wonderfully articulate how loud, distracting and all-consuming it can feel inside a mind recovering from a brain injury or battling mental illness. Jessica DiCosta’s direction approaches the material with a cinematic sensitivity to rhythm and visual storytelling that creates a cohesive and layered production.
As the relationship grows and their love intensifies, so does Andrea’s fear of becoming too much for Sasha – a common experience for people with chronic illnesses or disabilities in a relationship. The writing highlights the impact on both people; the burden of care it puts on the more able-bodied person, as well as the burden of trying to live in a body that constantly feels at war with itself. As someone frustrated by living in a body with great limitations, I found it aptly articulates how cumbersome it can be trying to shield your partner from your personal hell that you know is making you difficult to live with.
The scenes unfold on a non-linear timeline like fragmented memories, reflecting the disorientation and instability at the heart of the work. The thought-provoking script touches on many compelling and exciting ideas, some of which feel under-explored or lacking sufficient context. The exploration of interpersonal dynamics is fascinating and compelling on its own, and the sci-fi memory-wiping narrative occasionally feels unnecessary, diluting the underlying emotional power of the relationship and the superb performances at its centre.
Shannen Alyce Quan is devastating and delivers a deeply authentic Andrea. Without ever reducing the character to her suffering, Quan’s portrayal is nuanced and sensitive, balancing vulnerability with fierce determination. Her refined containment of Andrea’s volatility creates an electrifying performance. Kala Gare brings a restless physical energy to Sasha, commanding the audience with her emotional openness and sincerity. Her monologue in the final scene is a work of art, profoundly heart-breaking to witness.
I’ve been lucky enough to see Gare in My Brilliant Career and Quan in Doubt this year, so it felt like an absolute privilege to witness their artistry up close in the intimate space of the Old Fitz Theatre. Quan and Gare perform with the emotional intensity and transparency of a film close-up. Their chemistry is refined and sublime; together they are magnetic.
Is FORGET ME, PLEASE Worth Seeing in SYDNEY?
One of the production’s greatest achievements is its ability to make the audience mourn the relationship long before it has fully unravelled. Although we are privy to the ending from the opening scene, a sense of anticipatory grief lingers throughout, colouring even the couple’s happiest moments.
While the text occasionally feels overburdened by the number of ideas it attempts to explore, Forget Me, Please ultimately offers a moving portrait of two people desperately trying to outrun pain, hold onto love, and survive the wreckage left behind by trauma, illness, and memory itself.
Tickets and Practical Info for FORGET ME, PLEASE in SYDNEY 🎟️
Forget Me, Please is playing at Old Fitz Theatre as a part of Sydney Fringe Festival and has completely sold out.
Writer and Co-Producer: Sophie Davis
Director: Jessica DiCosta
Co-Producer: Charlotte Otton
Cast: Kala Gare and Shannen Alyce Quan
Dramaturg: Laura McDonald
Designers: Isobel Sanby and Chris Davis
Sound Designers: Jessica Meier and Alex Meier
Stage Manager: Jemma Sproul
Marketing Support: Gracie Rowland
