Review: TAKE CARE OF MY FRIEND at The Filigree Theatre

Take Care of My Friend isn’t polished, and that’s what makes it so effective. The world premiere of Kathleen Fletcher’s autobiographical story doesn’t try to make her life easy to digest. She shares it honestly, letting the experience stand on its own without trying to tidy it up.

With Elizabeth V. Newman directing, the play moves steadily from Fletcher’s first awareness to where she is now. We watch as she learns she’s living with anxiety, depression, and OCD. Not as distant concepts, but as real forces shaping her life. These aren’t issues that can be solved or left behind. This is Fletcher’s reality; a daily fight against a mind that refuses to relinquish control.

She doesn’t carry the story alone. A five-woman ensemble surrounds her, functioning as a Greek chorus and something internal. They step in and out of roles, becoming people from her life, intrusive thoughts, and impulses that push against her sense of control. They give physical form to what would otherwise remain invisible, making the internal struggle immediate and tangible.

What the play makes unmistakably clear is that this is not the OCD people casually reference. This is relentless. It doesn’t allow dismissal or distance. It insists, it pressures, it convinces. It suffocates to the point where pain can feel like the only form of relief.

Fletcher’s strength isn’t only in telling her story, but in how she shapes it. The script is laced with sarcasm and satire, and her use of humor is sharp and intentional. It doesn’t dilute the experience. It makes it survivable in the room. When the weight of the material begins to press too hard, the tone shifts just enough to let the audience catch their breath, then pulls them forward again.

There’s a standout moment that captures this balance perfectly. Fletcher describes how her OCD compelled her to lick toilets, convinced that if she didn’t, the people she loved would die. From the outside, it sounds absurd, something easy to dismiss. The play refuses that distance. Instead, the ensemble launches into a brilliantly staged parody of Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango,” turning compulsion into choreography. It’s hilarious, but the laughter lands unevenly once the reality underneath it settles in. This wasn’t a joke. It was survival.

Fletcher is phenomenal as always. I don’t think I can say anything that people don’t already know about her acting. Here, she isn’t performing. She is opening up, exposing her wounds, watching them heal and reopen in real time. By the end, all I wanted was to give her a huge, mamma bear hug. She earned it.

The ensemble, uniformly strong, moves as a single organism with intention, emotional precision, and sharp comedic timing. They shift seamlessly without losing the thread of Fletcher’s story. They don’t decorate it. They build it, hold it, and at times press against it. I loved seeing a strong group of actors supporting one another in such a way. Theatre in its purest form: a company of humans telling a human story.

What Filigree Theatre has put on stage here isn’t designed to comfort. It doesn’t package mental health into something neat or easily digestible. Instead, it opens a window into an experience that is often misunderstood and rarely portrayed with this level of honesty.

It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But it is brave, revealing, deeply informative, at times funny, at times shocking, at times heartbreaking, and above all, real.

And for me, this is exactly why work like this matters. Talking about mental health is not optional. It is necessary. Too many people live with anxiety, depression, and OCD in silence, carrying it alone in the dark corners of their lives. Theatre like this doesn’t fix that reality, but it does something quieter and more radical. It breaks the isolation. It says, plainly, you are not the only one. It allows us to collectively take care of each other, as friends.

Cast: Kathleen Fletcher, Talya Hammerman, Arielle Laguette, Kerry McGinnis, Molly McKee, and Rachel West.

Run time: 2 hours, including one intermission

Take Care of My Friend

Book by Kathleen Fletcher

Directed by Elizabeth V. Newman

Now playing through April 25th, 2026

Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM

Sundays at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM

The Filigree Theatre at Hyde Park Theatre

511 W 43rd St, Austin, TX 78751

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