Studio at Bakehouse Theatre, Tue 1 Mar.

In one sense Hard To Reach Places felt very modern. After all it has become standard to bare your soul in public via social media and share your innermost feelings to the whole world. But in this short work Anna Lumb is not presenting a stylised or fabricated impression of who she really is. She makes it plain to see that she really is struggling… struggling to keep up with the pressures of a modern life as an aging parent. She runs her whole life as if in a continual gym session – bouncing around from exercise routines, the kids’ breakfast, the morning coffee run, running errands in the car while slowly coming to the realisation that she is not only unhappy, but intensely bored.

Adding to the pressure is the constant soundtrack of pumping music – gotta keep those energy levels up, gotta keep in shape, gotta look good – with not one second for silence or quiet reflection for yourself. But fortunately this aging artist hasn’t lost touch with her one happy place; that one place where she excels, where she is still very much a creature of grace and skill. And it’s beautiful to watch.

Part theatre/part circus Hard To Reach Places is a clever show. Suddenly you forgive all its imperfections and the chaotic lurching from one thing to the other. Seek out your element – that thing you excel at – and never lose sight of it. It will help you stay alive. And others might even respect you for it.