“Missed Calls” is like someone took every unread message, ghosted text, and late-night “are you up?” call and turned it into theatre that actually understands what it’s like to be young, a little lost, and trying to connect in a world that’s constantly online but emotionally offline. This beautiful piece brought together movement, silence, and unanswered voicemails to create a thought-provoking masterpiece.
Audiences listen to the dialogue through headphones while the two lovers we hear from move and dance around us. Through a series of contemporary movements and mime, they tell their story without speaking. The only time the actors speak is at the end, after a time jump. This moment adds a new dimension to the performance and brings the entire story to a poignant close.
Throughout the performance, familiar sounds echo— a voicemail message played repeatedly, an unanswered FaceTime call, and a dial tone that never seems to end. These become the haunting background noise of the unfolding narrative. It’s a love story told in silence and sound, unfolding before us and surrounding us at once. Clover and Gray find each other—both at different stages in life—fall in love, and eventually break apart, all within the fleeting time we share with them on stage.
The experience is deeply moving. Watching and listening to these souls navigate heartbreak, adulthood, and the digital disconnect of their generation is something special. It resonates across age groups, showing how time changes a person—and how all those missed calls can tell a bigger story.
It’s raw, chaotic, and real. We’ve all got that one message we didn’t send—or wish we hadn’t. This show holds up a mirror to that world. It makes you question: what if things were different? What if I had just answered that call? Maybe things would have turned out another way.
A piece of theatre that makes you feel like you’ve just watched your own life unfold—messy, painful, beautiful—is a true testament to those who wrote, produced, and performed it. “Missed Calls” doesn’t just tell a story; it invites you into one you’ve probably already lived.
Missed Calls at Hallè St Peter’s is showing as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival until 2nd August with tickets found at this link Missed Calls – Greater Manchester Fringe
Reviewer: Abigail Pendlebury
Reviewed: 31st July 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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