This performance of An Incomplete Encyclopedia of Hugs was the inaugural play in the newly established Little Reid Theatre at the Goodwood Theatre and Studios, and was introduced by its local author, Sarah Peters. 

Conundrum Theatre was also established locally but is now based in Singapore and they worked with Peters on this brilliant one woman show. Claire Glenn’s performance as Juno, directed by Eliza Lovell, was utterly believable through the many changes in moods and the hugs which represented them. I especially enjoyed the rhyming couplets which appear seemingly effortlessly throughout the play, almost as punctuation for the emotion being portrayed.

With nothing but a large circular chair, cushions, a couple of blankets and a phone for the set, Glenn was able to portray the many vicissitudes of life through reminiscences of Juno’s, her friends’ and her family’s, lives. The lights and soundscape were well suited to the text and action – including a wild dance with strobing lights and deafening music.

The script cleverly reprised Juno’s experience of being the last person to speak to someone who then dies. First it was an elderly woman in the same hospital ward when she was only fourteen, then Pearl, a family friend and older woman. But when it comes to her friend Viv, who is only in her 30s and dying of brain cancer – it just doesn’t seem right to Juno. And why her? Why not Viv’s mother or sisters to be the last person Viv spoke to? 

The episode of Viv’s death, along with the bizarre notion of ‘putting stockings on a corpse’, was the section of the performance which stayed with me more than any other. It represented Hug 10 – ‘…the last time I’m going to hug you before you die…but I want to thank you for everything and I love you hug’. The one we too often don’t get an opportunity to give to our loved ones. 

Don’t miss this great show, it only has a very short season.