Swedish Death Cleaning vs Everything: Learning How To Let Go ~ Adelaide Fringe 2025 Review

[THEATRE & PHYSICAL THEATRE/Cabaret ~ SA ~ WORLD PREMIERE] Judy's at Holden St Theatres, Thu 13 Mar, 2025. Imagine a group of people all crammed into a room (or shed) full of trinkets and treasures that belong to a deceased woman. Her granddaughter has invited us all to help her sort through and throw out all the stuff her grandmother has left behind. The granddaughter has done a little of the job already and put a few trinkets into categorized boxes, and together we decided which ones to keep and which ones to let go. We are read entries from grandma’s diaries, and listen to several songs that help us understand how her granddaughter felt about her. Delia Olam has quite a pleasant voice and the two songs on dulcimer added interesting musical texture. Delia also spends some time describing grandma’s various attributes in quite lovely poetic language. In fact, she seems to prefer doing just about anything but focusing on the task at hand – getting rid of grandma’s stuff! It’s understandable and endearing, but procrastination rules the day. As a group we do manage to dispose of just a few of the hundreds of objects on display in grandma’s shed, but at this rate she could be doing the same show at next year’s Fringe and still not be finished! We don’t really learn much about Swedish death cleaning. This show is really just an opportunity to tell an audience about the life of a woman we’ve never met and never see. Delia is a delightfully dotty host, a little eccentric, a bit absent-minded, and so grateful that we’re there to help her with her procrastinations. Though at shows end she seems happy with the little we actually achieved! 3 stars Michael Coghlan Swedish Death Clean vs Everything continues at Judy's at Holden St Theatres, at various times, until Sun 23 Mar. Book at FringeTIX and adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #ClotheslineMag #ADLfringe