“The funny thing about love
Is that love
Is a lot
It’s a lot like cancer
It hurts
And
It’s messy”
You Can’t Be Serious is a show about grief, cancer and humanity. Andrea Parson uses dance, storytelling and comedy to share a moving personal story of loss.
Parson has spent most of her career as a dancer and choreographer. The decades of experience in the field are evident in her skillful movement and dance technique. She leaps, crawls and slides through the space with apparent ease. Her body becomes a canvas with which she uses movement as a paint to portray story and emotion. The choreography is evocative and enthralling, breaking up blocks of text with movement sequences that aid in transition and further the plot and themes. Her prowess as a dancer is impressive and really serves the piece.
“The funny thing about cancer
Is that there’s nothing funny about cancer
But let’s try!”
Despite a bit in the script about Parson failing to make cancer funny, she manages to do just that with this show. Exploring grief for over an hour without leaving everyone feeling completely depressed is a difficult feat and yet one that this show succeeds in. Parson is an enigmatic performer with brilliant comedic timing. She is great at connecting with the audience and making them feel invited to experience the show fully, whether through laughter or tears. She even enters the crowd a couple of moments in the piece, making direct contact with audience members and bridging that gap created by the fourth wall. The audience is a part of the piece, a fact Parson states at the beginning, allowing them to become part of the story by witnessing it.
The sound design by Joe Kye and the lighting by Maciek Pieta aided the storytelling and created a further enveloping mood and environment for the audience. Because the script doesn’t follow a linear story structure, these technical elements help to string the pieces of the story together.
The piece ends with Parson dumping a bag of cookie crumbs on the stage and dancing around in them. She says:
“And I’m not good with messes
I am afraid of messes
But cancer, death, life, love, cookies, sinking ships
It’s all such a mess”
The poignant ending to this piece created a lasting visual and much for me to ponder long after the show ended. This piece is a masterful solo performance about a deeply human experience told with the specificity of personal life. It feels real and raw yet polished and top-tier. You Can’t Be Serious is a meaningful solo show and a touching memorial of a sister lost that is sure to impact audiences.
"You Can’t Be Serious"
Written and Performed by Andrea Parson
Directed by Katherine Murphy Lewis
November 15, 2024
United Solo Festival, Theatre Row, NYC
The 17th United Solo Festival
September 24 – November 17, 2024
Theatre Row
410 West 42nd (btw 9th and 10th Avenue)
Carmen! is a trans-multimedia artist specializing in playwriting, acting and crochet. Originally from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, they are currently based in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, returning to their Atlantic Oceanic roots. Their play Taking the Plunge has been performed at the Tank and the Chain off-Broadway and in the 2023 Fresh Fruit Festival slated this June. Carmen has also worked in front-of-house and technical positions for prominent theater organizations including New Dramatists, Portland Playhouse, Emursive and Future Proof. Carmen’s mission is to use play to create meaningful representation by and for underrepresented communities. For more information on Carmen! Follow them on socials @carmenacetosociety or check out www.carmenburbridge.info
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