One of the more tech-heavy shows at Fringe 2025, Dear Annie, I Hate You becomes rather less contemptuous once it comes clear ‘Annie’ is short for ‘aneurysm’, which is what Sam Ipema has ended up with. She did not know she had one until she was admitted to hospital after blacking out during a football game (or soccer match, as she calls it, coming from the other side of the Atlantic) and the medics ran some tests to determine the cause. You need not know anything about aneurysms before coming to this show: all is explained, and in so much detail that Sam even tells the audience they can avert their gaze if they have difficulty seeing blood. The surgical clipping procedure to clip, or close off, the aneurysm, in order to stop it from enlarging or breaking open, is shown in full gory detail.
Then there’s ‘Annie’, voiced and performed (yes, performed) by Eleanor House, who almost relentlessly, and always at an inappropriate point, teases and taunts Sam. An autobiographical account, television sets are positioned on stage, the old-style cathode ray tube ones (you know, the ones even deeper than they are wide) are used to screen video footage of various other characters in Sam’s life, particularly immediate family. An ex-boyfriend, it appears, did not consent to being included in the show, but the production finds ways of telling the audience his views regardless.
To pull this off requires some exquisite timing, and it all flows very well, with ‘interruptions’ (inverted commas mine) to proceedings dealt with very quickly. Sam has also done her research into aneurysms, recalling scientific details at length and at speed. That technology has been harnessed to include Micah, Sam’s adopted younger brother with Down’s syndrome, is an excellent move, giving stage time to someone who we would not ordinarily see on stage (and, frankly, with good reason). A keenly observant show that draws out both laughs and poignancy in equal measure.
Review by Chris Omaweng
In this heartfelt and darkly funny production, Sam Ipema’s brain aneurysm takes the form of ‘Annie’, the painfully honest manifestation of Sam’s inner self. From spring break to a ‘live’ brain surgery depicted on stage, the show chronicles Sam’s story from her early childhood to her life changing diagnosis in a life-affirming audiovisual performance. Based on her own experiences, Sam’s real family appear in the show as characters in recorded videos, with a special focus on Micah, her brother with Down’s syndrome. Dear Annie, I Hate You looks to pay homage to different types of disabilities – both seen and unseen.
Samantha Ipema – Performer and Creator
Eleanor House – Performer
James Meteyard – Director and Dramaturg
Hannah Sands – Associate Director
Alice Wordsworth – Dramaturg for Edinburgh Fringe
Hugo Dodsworth – Set and Lighting Designer
Dan Balfour – Sound Designer
Dan Light and Douglas Coghlan – Video Designers
Jade Hackett – Movement Director
Robin Hellier and Bethan Clark – Fight Coordinators
DEAR ANNIE, I HATE YOU
Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Fringe
30 July to 25 August 2025
