The Goodwood Theatre and Studios is a little gem of a Fringe venue in suburban Goodwood. Parking can be a bit tricky but once you are inside, it feels like worlds away from the traffic of Goodwood Road just the other side of the walls. The staff were uber friendly and there’s a bar where you can grab a drink while waiting for the doors to open.

On the main stage, a party hat sits on a chair with cardboard tables and chairs on each side. Isobel Pitt enters the set in a bright red dress, dons the party hat, picks up a party blowout and ‘Downstairs’ begins.

The opening act takes us back for a quick recount of childhood birthday parties. Fun, games, hanging out with friends – simple moments of joy. The remainder of the show is contrasted with the experience of an adult party where anxiety rules and a panic attack is just around the corner.

The portrayal of a panic attack is real. The pain – mental and physical. The physical manifestations of vomiting – or sh!tting – or both and not knowing which one it’s going to be. Pitt sits at the imaginary birthday table unable to eat despite being hungry. She describes the feeling that everyone is looking at you and judging when in reality they are not. And, after announcing that there’s been a panic attack, the friends are supportive and accepting without pity or being overreactive. Ultimately, the panic attack subsides and Pitt slowly emerges from its grip and joins the party.

Pitt uses voiceovers in the form of game show to add light to the dark and provide transitions from the performance to projections that show, in words, a literal spiral of anxiety and panic. ‘You are a burden.’ ‘Nobody likes you.’ ‘You should just leave.’ We go back to these projections several times during the performance to demonstrate the transition from panic to safety.

‘Downstairs’ is an intimate depiction of Pitt’s experience of panic. She holds the audience for the entire 45 minutes of what could be very dark material but being well written, is not. Pitt says that panic is not just about breathing into a brown paper bag and meditation as is so often depicted in movies or tv. ‘Downstairs’ provides an opportunity for the audience to really understand how completely debilitating panic attacks can be.