Ten Ways to Die Happy, playing at Underbelly’s Cowbarn, from Sisifo Production and Emilia Romagna Teatro, is an adaptation of the acclaimed Italian production Dieci Modi Per Morire Felici. Developed at the Fondazione Teatri di Reggio Emilia and written by Emanuele Aldrovandi and Jacopo Giacomoni, the show arrives in Edinburgh following a successful two year tour across Italy.
The show is in the form of an interactive quiz game and randomly selects audience members to step on stage and adopt a whole new life, complete with a new name and traits generated by a computer. Even if you stay in your seat, there is plenty of room for participation; early on, an audience member named the randomising computer ‘Hal’, a clever 2001: A Space Odyssey reference that flew over the heads of most in the room.
Each contestant begins with a pile of flowers representing their remaining time and vitality. Once your flowers are gone, you die, simple enough. However, the quizmaster, played with icy authority by Perla Ambrosini, routinely throws in unexpected plot twists and life obstacles generated by the computer, altering how much happiness you accumulate and how quickly your flowers disappear. Towards the end, it did become a little formulaic.
There are some pertinent observations in Ten Ways to Die Happy about the inequalities of life. One participant’s only quality is ‘extreme poverty’; they don’t last long! The life choices presented to the contestants are meant to make us consider and reflect upon what makes us truly happy.
However, the production relies heavily on participants who can follow its subtleties. Part of the magic of Edinburgh during Fringe season is its diverse, international crowd, but language barriers and cultural confusion inevitably creep in. Several participants struggled with specific references; even Ambrosini herself missed the ‘Hal’ joke. Later, when asked to select a Zodiac sign, at least two participants looked completely bewildered and opted out. In its native Italy, without these linguistic and cultural barriers, the game likely plays more smoothly and possibly the humour lands more easily.
You’ll enjoy Ten Ways to Die Happy if you like audience participation shows and want to spend a clever, thought-provoking hour questioning your life choices. But its ultimate success depends heavily on the luck of the draw and who is in the audience that day, so take a chance and you might just pick the right show.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
