Losing You (twice)

Losing You (twice) is a deeply touching, emotionally gripping true story told by Kate, performer and writer, about her experience and journey of the disappearance of her beloved brother Dan. It is not only a compelling and real performance, but holds a very important message, prompting us to think and hopefully speak about the currently unspoken.

The performance takes you on journey of emotions. It starts on a high with a great deal of laughter, childhood innocence and feelings of happiness and love communicated through warm childhood memories of a tight family unit. About halfway through these emotions shift quite suddenly to sadness, loss and living with ambiguity, helping to show how one’s life can be completely turned upside down in a moment.

Kate’s warm, brave and courageous nature succeeded in touching the hearts of the audience, allowing a connection to form through sharing real stories, raw emotions and heartache. She drew the audience into her world as a proud big sister, right from the start, evidently wanting to share a little bit of "her" Dan. She introduced us to his little quirks and warm personality that were so important to her. This was well achieved through the snippets of home video footage, and through breaking the fourth wall with narration, and inviting the audience in with physical storytelling.

The minimalistic set and lighting assisted in creating an intimate performance space, allowing for a strong audience connection with Kate. The use of a singing motif, a symbolic chair and a backdrop that played both home and media footage throughout the performance complemented and added to the storytelling beautifully.

The importance of this performance also goes beyond the storytelling and raw emotion. It carries an important message for both mental health and missing persons in Australia. It forces the audience to ask questions and brings a truth to what is a very important reality in today’s society. The audience were both surprised and amazed to learn the facts about support networks for the families of a missing person and to hear the overwhelming statistics on mental health and suicide.

Kate encourages us to talk about taboo subjects through sharing her own story with us, and displays just how important it is to do so, and who knows, it may even save a life.

Losing You (twice) is a one woman show written and performed by Kate O’Keefe. It ran from February 7 - 11 at Newtown's King Street Theatre, and will play in Melbourne at The Butterfly Club from Feb 21st to 26th

If you are struggling with issues like those covered in the play, you may want to consider contacting one of the below organisations.