My Dead – Barons Court Theatre

From growing up in Washington state, to her flat in South Ealing, Carolyn Hartvigsen has traversed the continents but the story she tells is of her ancestors, and the distance between her and them.

Walking onto the stage in wonder, Hartvigsen reels us in, with heightened intimacy in the old pub basement space of the theatre. She whips out a small tree, with photos of her family members attached to the leaves with herself as the tree trunk. She shares a carefully and truthfully woven patchwork of her personal life, her ancestors’ stories, and her reactions to them and how they help her reflect on her circumstances. With an unerring fear of death, she seeks understanding from her dead family, and how they lived.

As she discovers that one of her great grandfathers was polygamous and that her great grandmother was the 2nd wife, Carolyn reverts to her child self, freaking out and obsessively praying to not ever become the 2nd wife. The suddenness with which this fear hit and the specificity of it was so vivid and truthful. Springing from scene to scene, marked only by sharp physicality and shifts in lighting (excellently designed and timed by Meg La Marchant), Carolyn would channel her ancestors as she held their photo, reading out letters they had written.

Originally created as a 25-minute project at LAMDA, Hartvigsen has evolved it into an hour-long play. Throughout it, she mentions the roadblocks in her writing and how she finds clarity. Hartvigsen’s writing is earnest and authentic, and her performance reaches out and inspires in a way that few plays do. Carolyn’s investigation into her roots confronts the humbling mystery of the dead and conveys their buried experiences as sources of wisdom and guidance.

Reviewer: Riana Howarth

Reviewed: 4th March 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★★★