Many Happy Returns – 12 January 2025

Many Happy Returns sat decisively in the middle of many performance genres and dared to experiment with storytelling in ways that were unique, if a little campy at times. Many elements of what the show intended to be were never fully explained, and although it was a fun experience, I felt that I didn’t leave with a full understanding of what I had experienced, but I also didn’t feel the need to have one. To me, Many Happy Returns was an artistic moment that came and left. I didn’t feel much about it and I didn’t need much from it. The format was clever, the quasi-improvisational style was effective, and the audience had a good time. We didn’t learn much, but it did feel meaningful to get together as a community for a free event that took us outside of ourselves into a world of experimentation. The primary thematic content was that in this world, anything can happen; we might fail, but we will be okay; if connections can be lost, then they can also be found; and together we are worth more than we can ever be alone.

The story was primarily told with an actor (Robbie Saenz de Viteri) sharing the thoughts of a character, Monica Bill Barnes (Monica Bill Barnes), who was telling the same story as the lines, but through dance. Some moments used props as vehicles for understanding, and experimented with a difference in how the character was thinking about it (running out of breath) and how the character was experiencing it (deflating a beach ball). A lot of the show focused on the differences in how we experience the world verbally and nonverbally, as well as how we experience the world differently in our heads than what we project into the outside world. It explores what it means to be happy, and whether or not one can truly be happy alone.

There were quasi improvised moments, like the crowd work monologue about an audience member’s hat, and items like lifesavers, beach balls, and flowers that made their way into the audience.  The crowd work was a little unpolished, and had me feeling slightly uncomfortable with how we might be asked to participate. I didn’t always understand the point of the crowd work, other than breaking up the story so Barnes could rest and elongating the show to make it seem long enough to be a fully realized idea. All in all, Many Happy Returns is an interesting concept on its way to being a production. It’s not quite there yet, but I see potential for growth and development here.

I did not attend this performance on a press pass.