Ridiculusmus’ new show Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!
Ridiculusmus brings its latest show to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!
a funny and fragile farce about ageing, dying and mourning
TechCube0, Summerhall
Tuesday 13 to Sunday 25 August at 5.40pm
Press performance: Wednesday 14 August at 5.40pm
The UK’s most enduring theatre double act Ridiculusmus bring their latest show Die! Die! Die! Old People Die! to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 25 August. Die! Die! Die! is the final part of a trilogy of works transforming mental health issues into witty and accessible theatre which will be performed in full on 25 August.
In an age where death and grieving are being medicalised out of existence, Die! Die! Die! Old People Die! strives to reclaim humankind’s last taboo from eradication in a paper-fine portrait of a love triangle cursed to eternal life, but without eternal youth.
Libidinous centenarians Violet, Norman and Arthur are doomed to enact a slo-mo ballet of sadness. Amid fumbling, daily rounds of coffee, call centres and cat food, their rants, dribbles, pills and cough bombs litter an ambling blend of symbolist mysticism and synesthesia that has the fear of an ageing world population in its sights. It oozes with the relentless positivity of elderhood and good deaths.
For Die! Die! Die! Old People Die! Haynes and Woods shadowed palliative care workers, liaised with the Festival of Death and Dying in Melbourne, attended death cafés where people talk about death over tea and cake, and trawled their own grief memories for material. Woods began a course as a bereavement counselor – but had to pull out when his own father died.
Die! Die! Die! Old People Die! is the final part of Ridiculusmus’ trilogy of works transforming complex mental health issues into witty and accessible theatre. The full trilogy, Dialogue as the Embodiment of Love, will be presented on Sunday 25 August. Big pharma, psychiatry, psychology and the system all collide in the first two plays – domestic encounters that plunge audiences into disorders of the everyday. The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland is informed by a treatment method for psychosis which delivered incredible results whilst Give Me Your Love explores the therapeutic impact of MDMA on post-traumatic stress disorder.
www.ridiculusmus.com
Twitter @_Ridiculusmus_
Listings
Company: Ridiculusmus
Show: Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!
Venue: TechCube 0, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1PL
Dates: Tuesday 13 & Wednesday 14 August (previews); Thursday 15 to Sunday 25 August (no performance on Monday 19 August)
Tickets: 13 & 14 August £8; 15 to 18 August, 20 to 25 August £10 (£8 concessions)
Time: 5.40pm
Box office: 0131 560 1581 / www.summerhall.co.uk
Running time: approx. 60 minutes
Suggested age range: 13+
Show: Dialogue as the Embodiment of Love – the trilogy
Date: Sunday 25 August
Times: 4.05pm: Give Me Your Love; 5.40pm: Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!; 8.55pm: Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland
