The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church by Daniel Kitson

In early 2007, Daniel Kitson was looking for a new house. His friends had all largely abandoned London in search of “somewhere nice to live” and, with an ever decreasing social circle, he was considering following suit. Then one morning, in a burst of uncharacteristic activity, he decided to up sticks and relocate to Yorkshire, where he grew up.

But while being shown around one potential new abode, Kitson made a discovery that would put not only his house-hunting, but also much of his life, on the back-burner. In the dusty loft, amidst a jungle of boxes, he finds a suicide letter from a Mr Gregory Church.

Unable to banish it from his mind, Kitson negotiates for himself the ownership of the contents of Mr Church’s loft; dozens and dozens of boxes full of letters sent, received and meticulously categorized by the eponymous dead man. And meticulously, over a period of weeks and months, Kitson pieces together the life of this complete stranger: The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church is his life story.

This production is Kitson’s follow-up to his Fringe First-winning 2008 show 66a Church Road: A Lament, Made of Memories and Kept in Suitcases. A stand-up comic by trade—and a Perrier-winning one at that—Kitson’s so-called "story-shows" have for six years now been established as genuine theatrical highlights. And be under no illusions, …Gregory Church is every bit as good a monologue as one could expect.

Ultimately, this is a tale of compassion, of redemption through human contact and friendship. As Kitson unpacks Gregory Church’s letters, he learns of the desperation of a man on the edge, and of the people who offer him salvation. There’s a tenderness in this performance, a real celebration of the small and often spectacularly banal things that individually mean nothing, but taken together are what makes a person who they are. We come to genuinely care for this man, this stranger, as though he is the most important person in the world.

But this is not just a story of Gregory Church’s life, it’s a story of modern life. It’s a story of the loneliness of modern society, of the atomizing impact of neo-liberalism and a nostalgic look back at a time before email ushered in an era of meaningless communication. Yet it is optimistic; its message is one of hope. It celebrates friendship, it celebrates people, interaction and ultimately love. It is a genuinely beautiful piece.

Kitson lovingly paints Gregory Church’s world in the most vivid terms. His highly energetic, enthusiastic and yet distinctly vulnerable delivery is honesty itself. There’s nothing bombastic about this production, nothing spectacular or show-stopping: what makes it so utterly captivating is its overarching humanity.