The Roundhouse 3-14 November. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
Well, the audience certainly found happiness tonight!
The Happiness Project is a response to the 2007 UNICEF report “An overview of child well-being in rich countries”. Two years have been spent exploring the issues raised, and the show fuses the viewpoints of young people, scientists and academics.
The show centres around Eden, a teenager wondering about her future plans, whose mother has told her “I don’t mind what you do with your life – I just want you to be happy.”
Eden’s friends discuss what makes them happy, give themselves scores out of 10 and talk about experiments to find out what “Happiness =” – and are rudely interrupted by the scientists. Neuroscience, psychiatry, human geography and the scientific method are all discussed – to the dismay of the teenagers. Their expressions of disdain are brilliant. A wonderful explanation of dopamine responses in the brain while one lad eats a bacon sandwich is delivered to explain happiness as a system of rewards and expectations. The scientists’ questions about the teenagers’ actions are hysterical. One tries to explain the happiness felt whilst dressing up as Iron Man using Nietzsche’s theories.
The company use a chalk board to illustrate and annotate their findings. This is a fantastic device, showing the huge divide between the thinking of the two groups when the adults look at the teenagers’ simplistic landscape drawing and begin to label each item with psychiatric and scientific ideas.
The various ideas and ways to find happiness are abandoned until finally talk of finding your flow begins. This seems to appeal to the teenagers until a powerful and moving speech about the stresses and pressures young people have to deal with today. The effects used to convey these pressures are fantastic, considering the limited budget and space. Just as it seems that we cannot define happiness, talk turns to childhood memories, and how we can decide how we remember things. The company then begin to write what happiness is to them on the board. And this is delightful. A wide range of things, deep and meaningful or banal, all equate to happiness. Highlights were – “when you smile”, “when the monkeys stole our passports”, “my 7th birthday”, “bacon” (of course!) and “drumming”. The young boy and the scientist who wrote drumming then deliver a fantastic duet on the drums that left the audience breathless, before an almost wordless and moving finale.
This is a sincere and thought-provoking show, performed by a talented young company. The audience has their own chalkboard to write on as they leave, and this was full of happy and appreciative comments.
Who would have thought that sometimes, Happiness = Drumming?