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Almost a year to the day since the first lockdown, as we were in the midst of another surge in infections and a third lockdown, I came across Good Grief, the theme and the format of which struck a chord. Described by script writer Lorien Haynes as a “romantic comedy about death, about how two people negotiate the five stages of grief”, Good Grief brings this story to life through the creative coupling of stage craft and cinema, with director Natalie Abrahami, cinematographer Emma Dalesman, and editor Fin Oates working together. Following two days of Zoom rehearsals, it was filmed in a studio on a Covid-safe set and, in the process, an inspired and inspiring hybrid dramatic form emerged, a creative adaption adding to the expanding repertoire of online arts performances since the start of the pandemic.
On first appearance, this is a drama about grief following the death of a loved one. It opens in the wake of the wake, with everyone gone except partner Adam (Nikesh Patel) and best friend Cat (Sian Clifford) of Liv who is, her name notwithstanding, now dead, from cancer, not Covid. They talk about the wake, lingering over memories and stories of Liv, holding on, not letting go. Adam falls asleep and Cat leaves, only for him to reawaken and her to reappear a moment later, as if in the hope of finding Liv there, returned to them. Instead, Adam discovers a dozen or more boxes of pizza left unopened, uneaten. This, the first of several effective uses of boxes as stagelike props, is a simple yet moving glimpse of how difficult it is to contain loss (so many boxes) and how lost they feel with so much life (pizza) left to them.
Adam and Cat's confrontation with unmourned losses is an unfolding process, starting with their sharing difficult feelings about having been left without a chance to say goodbye. There is hurt and anger in Cat's voice as she speaks of Liv becoming more distant in the months before dying and turning to new people for company, for fun. Adam has similar fee