The Unburdening

Anna Sokolova

Sep 28

2 min read

Updated: Sep 29

Presented by @subtlenuancetheatre

https://www.subtlenuance.com/

Sydney Fringe 2026

22-26 September

The review

This witty, funny, self-ironic, astute, light-humor story is a snapshot of something very ordinary: a son is moving out. But there is a twist - the son has a severe health condition. Here, don't you think it is a work to pity and feel sorry for. No. This is one to be impressed by and inspired by the courage, warmth, care, and love between father and son.

This is a story snapped from life, created out of love to write and fueled by a wish to be independent, professional and complete, despite stigma and perceptions.

The son has a real-life prototype, and he is the playwright, Ash Walker, who lives with cerebral palsy. Walker is opening the show as part of his band, setting up a soft techno mood for the soundscape, and then as a main character, passing his story to the actor, Connor Crick, whose overall facial features and hair beautifully mirror those of the writer himself. Crick is there as a voice and body that are not disturbed, so the real Ash is there, the one who needs to be seen without a lens distorted by permanent disability.

The design is all carton boxes, piled and repiled, pushed around and stacked neatly. When one needs to mark a place - there are some with streets and suburbs names on them (and once mentioned, it is given a mirthful, snappy, recognisable characteristic). Needs water - there is one piece of ‘water’ written on it. My personal favorites were ‘piece of paper’ and a small narrow bit with ‘pen’ on it. While the cost of it shall be somewhat marginal, the idea worked out perfectly, creating the feeling of an inevitable change, a need to sort things out.

There is a sweet and unusual twist: to have real Ash and the actor Ash at the same time, off and on the stage. It feels like a story spills out into reality, and reading the director's notes, it seems it is something which propagates itself from the time of rehearsals in Ash’s own living room.

While a lot of classic and new plays from every corner of the world investigate traumas and issues, this one keeps the hardship of a health condition deeply inside, bringing up a heartwarming, optimistic, soothing, smartly shaped story. It is not overly sweet or sentimental; it is the one that floods the space with the genuine warmth of human connection.