REVIEW: BEFORE I'M DEAD @ THE GLITCH

🎭 Before I'm Dead

📍 The Glitch, 134 Lower Marsh, Waterloo, London, SE1 7AE

🗓 Thursday 28th May 2026

⭐️ 4 Stars

A MASTERCLASS IN INTIMACY

Arriving on Lower Marsh on a balmy London evening, you immediately get hit by that fab city vibe that makes you fall in love with fringe theatre all over again. The street is alive with the hum of outdoor bars, packed with people chatting, laughing, and enjoying the warm dusk air with a drink in hand. There is an infectious, creative energy in the Waterloo air that completely gets you in the mood for a good, soul-stirring piece of theatre. Ducking away from the pavement buzz and into the welcoming embrace of The Glitch, that electric anticipation only intensifies.

Inside, the (thankfully air-conditioned!) 50-seat studio auditorium was laid out completely in the round, a design choice that really lends itself to the absolute, breathtaking intimacy of the piece. With the audience wrapped tightly around the playing space, the staging leaves nowhere to hide for the two actors. They remain on stage throughout the entire performance, exposed, vulnerable, and operating under a theatrical microscope that demands total honesty.

The plot itself dives headfirst into some incredibly hard-hitting themes, navigating the heavy waters of mortality, grief, and human autonomy without ever losing its wit. We follow Zara, a fiercely funny, spiky 17-year-old dealing with the devastating reality of a terminal brain tumour diagnosis. Unwilling to let others dictate her legacy, she decides to write and record her own blunt, unfiltered eulogy. Tasked with guiding her through this emotional minefield is Stuart, a therapist from a wish-granting charity whose clinical tools initially clash with Zara's gallows humour. As the story unfolds, the two actors nimbly multi-role alongside their main characters, seamlessly populating Zara’s world with the family members, medical professionals, and figures from her past who have shaped her journey.

Myla Carman gives a wonderfully centred, magnetic performance as Zara. She anchors the emotional gravity of the play, proving utterly believable as we see her navigating the messy, turbulent, and non-linear stages of coming to terms with her diagnosis. Carman balances Zara's defensive sarcasm with a raw, fragile underbelly that is deeply affecting.

Opposite her, Pete Ashmore was phenomenal as Stuart. He really lived and breathed the character, capturing the quiet exhaustion and deep empathy of a man trying to maintain professional boundaries while his heart is breaking. When slipping into his various multi-roles, Ashmore completely altered his physicality, posture, and voice, making it crystal clear exactly who he was portraying at any given moment without the need for costume changes.

Oli Savage’s direction filled the tight space beautifully, staging the movement with a fluid dynamism that never once forgot that the audience entirely surrounded the action. He ensures that no corner of the room feels neglected. The Glitch is notoriously not the easiest space in terms of lighting due to its low ceilings and compact dimensions, but Savage's own lighting design used the environment incredibly well, crafting tight overhead pools of light and subtle shifts in intensity to isolate the characters and evoke different memories.

A few minor quibbles keep this production from a full five stars for me. James Rushbrooke’s writing is undeniably compelling and structured with a sharp dramatic instinct. I particularly enjoyed the natural, messy way that the conversations happen - characters cutting each other off, overlapping, and stumbling over words just like real people do when the stakes are high. However, I felt that some of the external flashbacks and meta-theatrical asides weren't entirely necessary to the core narrative. I found myself so deeply invested in the raw, unfolding relationship between these two central characters that I - perhaps selfishly - just wanted more of that gripping studio dynamic.

My other niggle comes down to the acoustic challenges of the space. While I fully understand and appreciate how a delicate, quiet softness was needed for Zara's internal vulnerability, I sometimes struggled to hear her words clearly when she was facing directly away from my side of the round. It is a constant, difficult tightrope in this format between maintaining the quiet emotional truth of a character and achieving the physical voice projection needed to get the lines across to every seat in the house.

That said, when the production delivers its emotional peaks, they are unforgettable. The absolute pin-drop moment of the night was when Zara held up her notebook with the words "I'm Scared" written in bold, frantic letters - a simple gesture that shattered the room. The ending hit exactly the right emotional heartbeat, avoiding cheap sentimentality while leaving audience members audibly moved and sniffing all around me. It is a beautiful, vital, and fiercely acted piece of fringe theatre that you shouldn't miss.

Performances of BEFORE I'M DEAD continue at The Glitch until Sunday 21st June. Tickets are selling fast so CLICK HERE to secure yours before it's too late.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Before I'm Dead was gifted by VAULT Creative Arts who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Myla Carman as Zara Russell; Pete Ashmore as Stuart Harrison

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 10 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Strong language; Discussions of death, cancer, domestic violence, and suicide

AGE GUIDANCE:

12+

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