by Dan Bryans
Coming to Harlow Playhouse on 10th November, How not to Live in Suburbia is an autobiographical theatre production from Annie Siddons about how she developed chronic loneliness after becoming a single mum and her gauche attempts to fit in with the nuclear families who were her neighbours.
Annie Siddons takes a look at the time in her life when she found herself – performance maker, part Greek, part Egyptian, full Londoner – as a single mum living in the nuclear family haven of curtain-twitching Twickenham, the most married place in London.
Through performance and surreal film, she recalls her gauche attempts to fit in with the yummy mummies who run triathlons and the families that row and cycle at weekends. With an eclectic soundtrack that swings from Bowie to Bieber, from Stormzy to Sinatra, Annie conjures the vibes of the city she loves and the loneliness of the suburbia she doesn’t fit in to.
Part love letter to London, part satire of suburban culture, part text book case of a woman reacting to chronic loneliness, Annie takes a poignant and humorous look at what it is to live in a community you don’t fit in, the compromises we make for the sake of our children, how chronic loneliness manifests itself and her own personal quest to cure it.
Annie has been a volunteer for the Samaritans since 2016, and is touring How not to Live in Suburbia with their support.
You can catch the Harlow performance on the dates below:
10 Nov Harlow Playhouse
Playhouse Square, Town Centre CM20 1LS
www.playhouseharlow.com
01279 431945
