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I’m Not Here was written, directed, designed and performed by Doireann Coady. This meditative performance was mainly inspired by her brother, Donal, who committed suicide ten years ago. Coady reflected about the decade that passed by and she could not find anything that could possibly remind her of his presence in the house. Eventually, in 2014, her father, George, found an old tape of her brother singing ‘How to Disappear Completely’ by Radiohead, which moved Coady into tears. She uses the tape in the performance of I’m Not Here, and invites the audience to follow steps and to listen to it.

The audience members are welcomed into the theatre, unsure if the performance is staged or not, because of the actor playing the role of a theatre staff member. They are then guided by the performance’s stage manager, who gives basic safety notes in an interesting way– such as igniting a lighter on stage three times before giving any instructions in case of emergencies and making sure the audience read the piece of paper which was given to them before their attendance. The stage is quite minimalist, there is a rope hanging from the ceiling and a small deck with a candle, which is lit by the stage manager before the performer comes on stage holding an orange chair with a visible hole.

The structure of the performance is quite repetitive, the performer is staging her suffering of losing her brother who is semiotically represented by the chair. The performer has to make different entrances and holds the chair at different levels. Afterwards, these movements are accompanied by music, thus embracing a ritualistic scenario, and the audience members see the physical and emotional struggle of the character trying to save her brother over and over again. Eventually, the performer asks the audience members to participate and listen to her brother singing, as he would have liked people to enjoy his music.

Overall, the concept of the play is quite cathartic and it does leave the spectators with the notion of helping one another in difficult times, listening to other people’s feelings and how it could save lives. Assumingly, this performance actively depends on the participation of the audience, and the theatre space is suggested to be treated differently, in a non-traditional way. It would be recommended that the directors and producers of this performance could consider another spatial configuration, since their primordial aim was not successfully achieved, for: 1) there were three people who seemed to be more engaged with the performer, 2) maybe other people would have joined if they were arranged differently and ‘closer’ to the stage. It would be interesting to see this performance restaged in the round at the Project Arts Centre instead of the proscenium seat configuration.