Psychopomp: Everyone Needs A Guide Through Life ~ Adelaide Fringe 2025 Review

[THEATRE & PHYSICAL THEATRE/Clown ~ AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE] The Breakout at The Mill, Fri 28 Feb, 2025. Psychopomp cleverly turns the tables and puts the spotlight right on the audience, in a playful manner, inviting them to tell their own story. This is a play about stories: yours, mine and well, of everyone who’s ever lived and all those yet to die. We meet the collector and curator of lives, and like a busy publisher, she’s only interested in the best, the most captivating stories. It’s not that time is an issue; eternity doesn’t do deadlines. She simply asks, why shouldn’t this demi-god enjoy our offerings? We can all relate to Poppy’s common dilemmas of not feeling like your life is as good as it might be, feeling scared, stuck, of not keeping up with the pace of life itself. But she shows us that there are other forces we can harness, or that may already be dormant within us, which can alter our current situation. We all need a guide in life, whether we know it or not, especially in times of transition. She reminds us that a guide will always appear if we only have the trust and humility to ask and the ears to listen. Poppy embodies both herself and this deity in a delightful dualism, switching between them throughout the show. This is sometimes a smooth transition, but often it has the abrupt and disturbing character of a possession. Can Poppy perform an exorcism to keep the two separate long enough for her to find her own story? Poppy brings an engaging charm to this performance, with a script both witty and wise delivered in a flawlessly clear presentation. Subtle music tracks complement the physical action, which utilizes elements of dance, mime and plenty of madcap mayhem. The audience participation is more interwoven in the show rather than in segments, and as such completely comfortable. We each have many options available to us, maybe so many that making choices becomes a chore we avoid. And what if choosing means cutting off other possibilities? This is an honest and entertaining exploration of whether we are willing to step onto our own stage to tell the tale of our authentic selves. Psychopomp asks a whole heap of questions, but they circle back to whether we are going to go on not doing whatever it is we are not doing or perhaps choose to change that. In the end, for god’s sake she says, make yours a beautiful story. 4 stars David Cronin ‘Psychopomp’ continues at The Breakout at The Mill, at various times, until Sun 16 Mar. Book at FringeTIX or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #ADLFringe #ClotheslineMag