Goodbye Dandelion ★★★★★

“Love always ends tragically.”

These words succinctly summarise the plotline of the deeply moving Goodbye Dandelion. Whether through death or breaking up, love finds itself dancing on the line of beauty and tragedy, no matter what. The finality of this sentiment echoes the finality of death – at least how the duo behind Goodbye Dandelion see it.

What is apparent from its opening moments is the exceptional ability of siblings Marcus and Maddie Rice to orate a story. Combining their clear strengths, music and storytelling, respectively, they have fashioned a narrative that touches on the meaning of a life well-lived. These existential issues are conveyed through the story of Maddie’s friendship with the elderly and frankly curmudgeonly Darcy, an 87-year-old visual artist who faces death’s door with assuredness.

Marcus provides an original score, is himself an aspiring musician, and voices Darcy. There are moments where he provides his own thoughts on death – it’s an intelligent and oftentimes pessimistic foil to Maddie. She describes meeting Darcy, first in an icy context: Darcy had been forcefully signed up to a companionship programme by her nieces. Here, Darcy’s rift with her family appears and later forms the crux of the plot – Maddie learns of these complex family dynamics and accepts that Darcy simply wants to be alone.

But she persists. Maddie’s persistence at finding connection is endearingly captured and contrasted by her disconnect from everyone else in her life. Her strained relationship with her roommate provides the context – she finds herself drifting through life with a job she doesn’t necessarily want. As Maddie embarks on a complex friendship with Darcy, she discovers that her dissatisfaction with her life makes her unable to accept death. Darcy believes the opposite – that if you live a life that is well-lived, death becomes normalised and perhaps welcomed.

Maddie’s performance is a treat. There are hilariously dark moments throughout the play that she is able to carry without dipping into melodrama or overtly funny line readings. Her ability to perform irony is impressive – it is no wonder she was cast to take over as Fleabag in 2018. The relationship between the siblings is incredibly nuanced. They recreate their dynamic with ease; it’s heartening to see two performers with a comfortability to express their innermost thoughts about life itself.

The set is minimally designed, with a large ornament bespeckling light on the performers. Fascinatingly, in part due to Katie Pesskin’s choice to stage the action simply, there isn’t much need for props or costume – the show’s naturalistic feel is quite effective.

When the show ventures into darker territory, particularly in exploring Darcy’s backstory, there is a genuinely heartbreaking change in Maddie’s performance, very much welcome in showing the full shades of a complicated acquaintance. This can only be achieved through the connection the audience has with Darcy, with Maddie as a conduit. The duo are clearly gifted and have bright futures ahead of them – hats off to the production.