Supernovas for Super Loners
Ever had mental health so poor that you caused the apocalypse?
That’s what happens to Dylan - an aspiring writer who feels totally alone and inconsequential in the suffocatingly small-town Swansea. After a night out gone awry on Wind Street, an unexpected intervention from a stranger sets events in motion that threaten to end in total catastrophe as fiction and reality begin to hurtle into one another.
Supernovas for Super Loners is a new musical that explores the links between societal inequality and the mental health crisis through a Welsh lens. Drawing influence from folk, pop and a host of other musical genres, Supernovas is a grand yet intimate story about connection and belonging.
In July 2021, Supernovas for Super Loners had a selection of four songs showcased in Viable, a digital festival of new writing hosted at the Bread & Roses Theatre. It featured Glen Jordan and Saskia Pay, was directed by Benji Mowbray, and produced by Gwenan Bain.
It received four star reviews from London Pub Theatres and Ask the Ushers, praising the material as being 'full of depth and determinedly clever', and calling the show 'promising and spell-binding'.
In October 2021, Supernovas for Super Loners had R&D at New Diorama Broadgate and Theatre Deli, produced by Critical Moment Theatre, with the following team:
Writer/Composer - Ryan Mellish
Director - Benji Mowbray
Musical Director - Griffin Jenkins
Designer - Cory Shipp
Photographer - Benkin Photography
Dylan - Glen Jordan
Emily - Saskia Pay
Jack - Daniel Bravo
Blake - Kirsty Thomas
Matt - Connor Charles
The show was first produced as Heartbeart in 2017's Bath Fringe Festival with Leading Light Collective.
TheatreBath lauded Heartbeat as 'engaging and genuinely moving', while it made audiences 'feel things they never knew existed', describing it as 'truly mesmerising' and 'what theatre should be'.
R&D at Theatre Deli, October 2021. Photo by Benkin Photography.
R&D at Theatre Deli, October 2021. Photo by Benkin Photography.
R&D at Theatre Deli, October 2021. Photo by Benkin Photography.