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Happy Place

Happy Place by Forget About the Dog

Flora Gosling

The Edinburgh Fringe is the perfect place for a company to work out their what-iffery; to indulge their imagination in a concept no matter how much it outstretches their budget. And so it is with Happy Place, by Forget About the Dog Theatre. In this reality, one need simply step into a “happy place” booth and be transported to whatever imaginary realm will bring them the most joy; like fighting monstrous beasts, performing to a sold-out crowd at Wembley, or simply meditating in a mountainside cottage. The challenge with performances like this is that when the concept comes first, sometimes the plot and characters take a back seat.

Watching Happy Place, it as though Forget About the Dog had the same thought, but decided they wouldn’t let it bother them. These are characters who wear their tropes on their sleeves. The best of these is Dylan, a delusional musician played by Jordan Larkin, who is endearing even when we see his self-indulgent fantasy of schmoozing with music producers. Leanne Stenson’s character Tamsin is harder to pin down; she has too many conflicting characteristics, and even though Stenson performs her with a great deal of energy she never quite finds a use for it.

The writing and direction never transport you as an audience member; you don’t stop seeing the actors and start seeing the characters. Nevertheless, the adventure the characters go on is well-rounded, well-paced, and well worth the price of admission. It is made all the better with their inventive storytelling devices, especially the puppets that have an amusing Terry Gilliam quality to them. Happy Place may not suck you in or try to convince you of its possibilities, but that doesn’t stop it from being a perfectly pleasing one-hour performance, with a handful of amicable tropes and imaginative landscapes that will keep any audience happy. 

Three stars.