All Of Me @ Tron Theatre, Glasgow

With its portrayal of human complexity, All Of Me is a truly touching representation of mental illness

Review by Vanya Semerdjieva | 26 May 2022
  • All Of Me @ Tron Theatre, Glasgow

As part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, Glasgow welcomes Olivier Award nominee Caroline Horton and her show All of Me to the Tron Theatre stage. In partnership with director Alex Swift (Mess), writer and performer Horton offers deep vulnerability as she addresses the raw and dark reality of depression and suicidality. Horton also reminds herself and the audience that, even in the midst of the deepest darkness, ways of coping and maintaining hope still exist. 

The show begins with a series of squeaky apologies for the buckets of bleak discomfort about to ensue. This aligns perfectly with the uncomfortable essence of depression – that one is a burden and must apologise for one’s very existence. Skilfully looped sounds gradually fill the theatre with deafening noises similar to the deafening thoughts of an ill mind. Engulfed in smoke and red light, Horton transforms into Death. In between sandbag rain and electronic beats, the audience is sucked into the chaotic oscillation between rationality and irrationality, reality and distortion, and life and death. By dramatically exploring the ways in which we carry these binaries within us, Horton gets to the complexities of what really makes us human. 

Despite its apologetic opening, the show unapologetically criticises idle politicians and contemporary reality, with Horton pleading to “unfuck the world”. The ending is hopeful without pretending to offer any easy solutions. “How do we live with the void?”, asks Horton as she parts ways with depression – for now. In line with the non-linear path of recovery, the darkness reminds her not to forget.

This is a must-see show, which might make you laugh while also feeling deep compassion for the suffering caused by depression. Perhaps the performance might benefit from a little less song but, overall, All Of Me is a truly touching artistic representation of mental illness.


All of Me tours the UK until 28 May; Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival continues until 24 May
https://carolinehorton.net/work/theatre-projects/all-of-me/