Forget Me, Please (Sydney Fringe)

Written by Sophie Davis. World Premiere. Sydney Fringe. The Old Fitz. 1-11 Sep, 2026.
N.B. – I’m not giving star ratings to Sydney Fringe shows.

Watch the end of a relationship. And the start of a relationship. And the middle of a relationship. In a non-linear story of love, trauma and mental health. The end may be a foregone conclusion, but the pain is in the details.

We meet Andi and Sasha in a waiting room. Andi is chasing to have a medical procedure to erase her memories of Sasha. Her now ex-girlfriend Sasha is against the whole thing. We then flash back to their “meet-cute” in a hospital years earlier when they both suffered concussions. We see their friendship, then their love, grow — but it’s clear Andi has demons haunting her, and despite their best efforts, sometimes simply forgetting someone seems like the easiest way to deal with the pain.

The concept is pure Charlie Kaufman / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but the vaguely sci-fi premise of a medical procedure that can erase people from your memory is simply a background MacGuffin. In many ways Forget Me, Please reminded me more of the slow intertwining and breaking apart of a relationship in all its brutal detail, à la Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.

The interesting twist is in casting two performers who are maybe best known for their work in musical theatre. Shannen Alyce Quan, an alumna of Six, The Dismissal and a host of Hayes shows, has been hitting our main stages in dramatic works like Holding the Man at Belvoir and Doubt at STC to great acclaim, and gives a beautifully tortured performance that slowly reveals its depth. Against her, Kala Gare, the fireball of energy that powered MTC/STC’s My Brilliant Career (and also a former Six queen), brings the light and dynamism. They’re a well-balanced duo, and their chemistry keeps Forget Me, Please moving.

Designers Isobel Sanby & Chris Davis have created a multi-faceted set that made my Tetris-loving heart sing with its clean lines and myriad of combinations (although they do make for some elongated scene transitions). Jessica Meier & Alex Meier’s sound design fills in the gaps and gives us an instant sense of place as the play jumps through space and time. Combined, they make for an interesting show.

Which is vital, as there is a lack of dramatic tension to the story. Starting at the end of the relationship may add a layer of intrigue, but playwright Sophie Davis’ script struggles to back up that initial premise with a story of equal strength. Andi and Sasha’s relationship is fairly mundane, and the story’s discussion of trauma and its lingering effects never builds to a suitable climax. In the end, the play can’t quite get us up to the level to justify the opening scene.

What Forget Me, Please showcases both Shannen Alyce Quan and Kala Gare as dramatic performers who have more to offer than just their powerhouse vocals. I’m curious to see them take on even more nuanced and dynamic roles in the future.