Darkly comic, deeply personal and unflinchingly honest, Sitting (In Silence) comes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a timely and powerful new play exploring grief, mental health and the difficulty of communication.
Set during a ten-day silent meditation retreat, the play follows a father and daughter attempting to navigate their strained relationship in an environment designed to eliminate noise, but not emotional tension. As silence hangs heavy, what remains unsaid proves just as significant as the words they struggle to share.
Patrick O’Donnell plays Dad, a restless and disruptive presence who feels immediately out of place, while Kitty Falcon takes on the role of his daughter. Their uneasy dynamic is punctuated by moments of humour and friction, particularly when they find themselves alone together, where whispers and awkward exchanges gradually give way to more profound revelations.
Written by Kitty Falcon and drawing on her own lived experience, Sitting (In Silence) confronts the complexities of loss and the urgent need for open conversations around mental health and suicide. Through a careful balance of comedy and poignancy, the play creates space for reflection while avoiding despair.
Falcon comments, “Sitting (In Silence) comes from a deeply personal place as I lost my dad, Joe, to suicide in 2015. Every week in the UK, around 125 people die by suicide, and men remain three times more likely to take their own lives. We need to find ways and places to facilitate more open conversations around mental health, something I aim to spark through my work.”
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She continues, “Since sharing the play, I’ve built incredible connections with audiences who’ve shared their own stories of loss and healing. It showed me how vital this subject matter is, and how art (and comedy) can transform trauma into something connective and hopeful.”
Blending humour with emotional depth, Sitting (In Silence) examines the cost of silence and the challenge of expressing love, pain and fear. It asks whether moments of connection, however fleeting, might ultimately help us to heal.
Following success at Brighton Fringe 2025, where it won the Mid Street Lab Community Award and the Farnham Maltings Emerging Artist Award, the production continues its journey with a Fringe run that promises to resonate with audiences seeking thoughtful, meaningful theatre.
Sitting (In Silence) runs at Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre) from 6 – 31 August (not 17, 24 August) at 14:45. Tickets are on sale here
