Broken Wide Open – Ed Fringe 2023

Broken Wide Open: Greenside @ Infirmary Street – Forest Theatre

22nd August 2023

★★★

Travelling alone in Ireland, Shana Pennington-Baird was hit with an emergency health issue – she’d suffered a type-A aortic dissection and Broken Wide Open tells her true story; a story of hope, family and survival.

It’s great to see a live band accompanying this production. Broken Wide Open is an interesting personal story told by Shana Pennington-Baird and the well delivered monologues between the music is well paced and engaging.

Whilst dealing with a hard hitting and emotional story Shana Pennington-Baird manages to put humour and lighthearted elements in which helps bring her story to life. Her storytelling ability through these monologues is very good and captivates the audience through what could be quite a dry show.

There is a mixture of original numbers as well as some well-known songs, such as ‘No One is Alone’ by Stephen Sondheim. These are performed well but at times, the show feels slightly disconnected – there are moments when perhaps the songs, or song choice, doesn’t aid the story. However, the narrative is well executed and the pace is good.

The message of the show is ultimately about living life, understanding that you don’t know what may happen next. Whilst it is clearly a personal story for Shana Pennington-Baird to tell it’s also an enjoyable 50 minutes.

For more information and tickets click here.