Theatre company The Falcon & The Feline bring Sitting (In Silence) to Brighton Fringe next month.
Described as “a comic yet haunting exploration on grief and the unspeakable,” the play was the winner of the Pebble Trust Young People’s Award.
Where: Friends’ Meeting House, Brighton
When: 3-5 May, 18-19 May, 25 -26 May, 30 May-1 Jun
Ticket link: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/sitting-in-silence/
Writer Kitty Falcon tells us more about her show. You can also find more details here.
Sitting (In Silence) is playing at this year’s Brighton Fringe. It’s about meditation and mental health. What should audiences expect?
Sitting (In Silence) is set during a ten-day Vipassana silent retreat—but don’t be fooled by the word “silent.”
There’s a whole world of laughter, unspoken emotion, inner noise, and unresolved grief bubbling beneath the surface.
Audiences can expect a raw, heartfelt story about what happens when you’re forced to sit with yourself—and with someone you thought you’d never see again.
The play explores parental relationships and heritage, mental health, suicide loss, and the kind of conversations we often don’t have until it’s too late.
The main relationship is between Dad and Kid – what inspired the play and what one sentence would you choose to sell it?
The play was inspired by my first Vipassana retreat during my “gap yah” in South East Asia, a couple of months after the loss of my dad to suicide. The retreat forced me into stillness, which brought everything I hadn’t processed crashing in.
I started writing later on as a tool for healing because there were so many things I wish I could’ve asked him—questions I never had the courage to voice while he was alive. Writing this play gave me a way to have that conversation.
If I had to sell it in one sentence, I’d go for the latest review from PHab Theatre: A dark comedy that makes you want to hug your dad — then maybe kick him in the shins.
Brighton Fringe is one of the strongest showcases for new and emerging artists. What’s the best thing about being part of it?
Brighton Fringe, and especially The Pebble Trust, have been so supportive—it’s genuinely one of the most accessible platforms for new artists like me.
I won the Pebble Trust Young Writer’s Award, which means £500 towards production costs and six amazing mentoring sessions in the lead-up. That kind of support is a game changer.
Hattie Snooks, my mentor, has been incredible. Unlike Edinburgh Fringe, Brighton makes it possible to take your first big step as a low-income creative on a low budget and still do something really ambitious.
Writing a 50 minute play means a lot has to he captured in a short timescale. Do you like the challenge of this?
Writing a 50-minute play that’s essentially one long, emotionally loaded conversation was definitely a challenge. But the retreat’s setting—with its confined space, silence, and strict rules—gave me a structure to work within, which weirdly helped unlock the emotional chaos of the piece.
I was lucky to test material via rehearsed reading at places like The Kiln and Hoxton Hall, and the overwhelming audience response was life-changing.
The play was originally selected by the Kiln for development as part of the Listen Local Young Writer’s Programme.
This professional series of workshops under playwright Tom Wright gave me the community, self-belief, and confidence to trust the work and keep going.
You’ve received acclaim for the show already. Is there a future beyond Brighton for Sitting (In Silence)?
Absolutely! The dream is to get a producer/ production team on board for a 2026 Edinburgh Fringe run and then take Sitting (In Silence) on a UK tour.
I believe there is an urgent need for stories about mental health, particularly in light of the rising suicide rates, that are honest and grounded in lived experience.
My biggest dream? To perform the play at The Kiln Theatre, where it all began—and to fully realise the immersive meditation garden set with my amazing set designer Thomas Bugg.
If budget were no limit, we’d create a space that felt truly otherworldly, just like the surreal perspective that life after a loss gives you.