{"id":897831,"date":"2026-04-16T11:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/897831\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:04:12","slug":"all-the-happy-things-birmingham-rep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/897831\/","title":{"rendered":"All The Happy Things – Birmingham Rep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writer<\/strong>: Naomi Denny<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director: Aaliyah McKay<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sienna and Emily are like any two adult sisters: they bicker, they laugh, they share secrets. But their relationship isn\u2019t what it seems: almost a year ago, Emily died unexpectedly, and Sienna is desperately trying to process her grief. Part of that process is that she sees Emily everywhere \u2013 not just sees: they have full-blown chats and arguments. The grief is all-consuming, affecting her rekindled relationship with her boyfriend, Sam, and at work with her boss, Kevin. And then there\u2019s Ruby, Emily\u2019s ex. Emily broke off their relationship with no explanation just before her death, leaving Ruby baffled as to why, and now in limbo too.<\/p>\n

Naomi Denny is the writer of All the Happy Things and plays the central role of Sienna. Denny\u2019s writing is excellent, and the dialogue feels real \u2013 for example, when two characters, each absorbed in their own positions, occasionally talk rapidly over one another. As audience members, we can\u2019t hear either, but that\u2019s the point: sisters and couples don\u2019t necessarily politely take turns to speak. It all feels as if we\u2019re flies on the wall, observing Sienna\u2019s journey, even as her memories of Emily begin to fade. Director Aaliyah McKay also ensures the humour in Denny\u2019s script is delivered well, leavening the mood: a tragicomic scene where Sienna tries to recreate for Sam the dance sequence she and her sister learned to TLC\u2019s No Scrubs is a memorable and affecting scene early in the play.<\/p>\n

Michaella Moore brings us Emily. When the sisters interact, she appears larger than life, all of her emotions and physicality exaggerated as the fine detail fades in Sienna\u2019s memory. Moore also plays Ruby, struggling to come to terms with the end of the relationship, wanting to reach out to Sienna but not knowing how. The scenes involving Ruby and Sienna are awkward, uncomfortable, but ultimately life-affirming.<\/p>\n

Gavin Dunn plays Sam, Sienna\u2019s partner, and also Kevin, her boss. Dunn\u2019s Sam is supportive, desperately trying to do the best for Sienna, but not quite knowing how. He\u2019s baffled by Sienna\u2019s mood swings \u2013 of course, neither Sam nor Kevin can see or interact with Emily, even as she\u2019s very much in Sienna\u2019s field of vision: there\u2019s a particularly striking moment when Emily\u2019s appearance destroys what could have been a beautiful, intimate moment between Sam and Sienna.<\/p>\n

Kevin, on the other hand, is quite the piece of work. Full of faux concern and corporate-speak, he embodies the very worst of men in the workplace, paying lip service to Sienna\u2019s well-being while actively undermining her and worsening her downward spiral. Dunn\u2019s Kevin is a man totally devoid of empathy or self-knowledge.<\/p>\n

The interactions between the characters play on our emotions as we see things from Sienna\u2019s perspective, with occasional laughs and also incredibly moving elements too.<\/p>\n

Delyth Evans\u2019 simple set design\u2014two doorways and a gauzy backdrop\u2014works neatly with McKay\u2019s direction, with the occasional glimpse into Sienna\u2019s head through the gauze. Callum McDonald\u2019s lighting sharpens things further, switching between the naturalistic and the hard-edged monochrome as moods switch.<\/p>\n

This moving, funny, challenging play takes us on a ride through the emotions that Sienna and others experience en route to a degree of closure; you\u2019re left uplifted and moved. In the hands of a lesser cast and director, the final scenes could be saccharine, but that is skilfully avoided, leaving one reflecting on the experiences of those left behind.<\/p>\n

Runs until 16 April 2026 and on tour<\/strong><\/p>\n

\t\t\tThe Reviews Hub Star Rating<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t90%<\/p>\n

\t\t\tNo Scrubs, Full Hearts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Writer: Naomi Denny \u00a0\u00a0 Director: Aaliyah McKay Sienna and Emily are like any two adult sisters: they bicker,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7820],"tags":[253117,253118,855,138142,748,253119,253120,393,253121,4884,253122,253123,16,15],"class_list":["post-897831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-birmingham","tag-aaliyah-mckay","tag-all-the-happy-things","tag-birmingham","tag-birmingham-rep","tag-britain","tag-callum-mcdonald","tag-delyth-evans","tag-england","tag-gavin-dunn","tag-great-britain","tag-michaella-moore","tag-naomi-denny","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116414059014320171","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}