Writer and actor Kitty Falcon has penned a two-hander Sitting (In Silence) which is heading to the Edinburgh Fringe this Summer. The dark comedy follows an estranged father and daughter at a meditation retreat that is supposed to help them find inner peace. With the theme of mental health at the centre of the writing, the play produced by Terracotta Productions comes from a deeply personal place, with Kitty reflecting on her own experience of suicide in creating the work. Following a Brighton Fringe run in 2025, Sitting (In Silence) will be at Summerhall for the duration of the festival. I recently had the opportunity to ask the writer and performer some questions about the play, before it opens in August.
What encouraged you to turn to playwriting as a way to draw attention to urgent conversations surrounding mental health?
Writing has always been the place where I make sense of the world. After losing my dad to suicide, I felt an overwhelming sense of anger and frustration at the gaps in our systems of care, and at the fact that so many young people continue to lose their lives in the same way. I believe many suicides can be prevented through earlier conversations, better access to support and greater understanding. Theatre felt like the most powerful way to share my experience, not because I have all the answers, but because stories can create empathy and start conversations that statistics alone cannot. If this play encourages even one person to reach out, or helps someone feel seen and less alone, then it has achieved what I set out to do.
With you sadly losing your own father to suicide in 2015, how have you drawn on your own experiences in creating the characters of KID and DAD?
The play is inspired by my own experiences, but it’s not a direct retelling of my life. It was important to create characters that had my dad and I’s essence but that could stand on their own. My own dad had that larger-than-life, joker personality, and that spirit certainly influenced his character. Creating that separation has allowed me to perform the work with honesty, rather than feeling like I’m reliving my own trauma every night.
With Sitting (In Silence) being a dark comedy, how are you balancing humour with the more distressing themes of the piece?
For me, humour is essential because it’s true to life. Even in the darkest moments, people laugh. My dad was incredibly funny, so it would have felt dishonest to tell this story without humour. Laughter creates connection and gives the audience space to breathe before the play explores its more difficult moments in the play. I think the comedy actually makes the emotional impact stronger because audiences are able to experience the full complexity of what it means to be human.
Theatre is one of the many ways that we can facilitate more open conversations around mental health. What do you hope will be the wider impact of this piece, looking beyond the Fringe?
The response to our first set of performances has been incredibly moving. As Tim Bird at Dad La Soul noted, “this play will save lives”. The mission of this play definitely goes beyond myself. I’d love the play to continue reaching new audiences, opening conversations around suicide and helping to break down the stigma that still exists. If wider audiences leave feeling more able to talk then I think the play has had a meaningful impact and holds a legacy I am proud of.
The play is created in partnership with organisations including Dad La Soul, Start The Conversation and Papyrus UK. How important has it been to have the support of these associations in the development of the piece?
Working alongside these organisations has been fundamental. From the beginning, I wanted the play to be rooted in community and connected to people who are doing life-saving work every day. Rose Rowkins at Start The Conversation has offered generous support and insight throughout the process. It’s important that audiences know there are places to turn after the performance, and I’m proud that the play can also help raise awareness of the incredible work organisations such as Papyrus and Dad La Soul are doing. We won the Mid Street Lab Community Award at Brighton Fringe 2025 for our continued community outreach work, which meant a huge amount to myself and my amazing team at Terracotta Productions.
What do you hope audiences will take away from coming to watch the play at Summerhall?
As my dad’s favourite poet Philip Larkin wrote, “what will survive of us is love”!
Catch Sitting (In Silence) at the 2026 festival
From working alongside organisations in the field to aspiring to start important conversations surrounding the topic of suicide, Kitty and the Terracotta Productions creative team are clearly trying to make a difference through their theatre-making. Sitting (In Silence) is based at Anatomy Lecture Theatre at Summerhall (venue 26) from 6th – 31st August (not 17th and 24th). Performances start at 14:45 (1 hour), with the show on sale via the EdFringe website now.
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