Hi friends, Anna here 🙂

The Yesterday Show will always feel special to me. Performing it with Sam was such a unique adventure, and it gave me the chance to explore a character I never imagined myself playing. I stepped into the role of Zed, a time traveler who interrupts a late-night style talk show and insists on warning the world about everything that is going wrong. She is awkward, sometimes blunt, but she carries both humour and conviction, and playing her reminded me how fun and important it can be to lean into contrasts.

The show started light, with Sam as the host trying to keep things silly and entertaining, but Zed kept pushing back. Instead of jokes alone, she wanted the platform to mean something, to be used as a way to warn humanity of collapse and tragedy. That tension was at the heart of the piece, and I loved discovering how far we could take it. The audience laughed when Zed made odd observations, but they also grew quiet when she spoke of futures that were falling apart.

One of my favourite parts was how unpredictable the energy felt. We had moments of pure silliness, like apologizing to Andrea for sitting in a denim chair, joking about croissants baked “with love,” or imagining Ugg boots redesigned with fringe. There was even a running gag about Adam Driver not having an Oscar, which still makes me laugh. These moments gave the piece its playfulness, and they helped the serious parts land with more weight.

But then came the warnings. Zed admitted the last tree had died. She described tragedy after tragedy from her timeline. She read a letter to humanity that pleaded for action against climate change, injustice, and apathy. Those words were not easy to say, but they mattered. I remember feeling the room shift as everyone leaned in, waiting for what would come next. Even when Sam’s host character undercut the moment with parody, the truth inside Zed’s words lingered.

The closing still stays with me. The host asked if we had “saved the world,” and Zed answered, “No, but we were not supposed to. We just got the ball rolling.” That moment summed up what the show meant to me. Theatre does not have to solve everything, but it can spark something, even if it is only curiosity.

Working on The Yesterday Show with Sam reminded me how powerful it is when theatre lives in two places at once. We laughed until our faces hurt, but we also carried messages that felt urgent and real. It was not about being perfect, it was about being present. For me, that balance of comedy and responsibility is what made Zed come alive, and it is why this show will always hold a special place in my heart.

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