In A Bad Way at Gilded Balloon Patter House

In A Bad Way is a fast-paced, darkly comedic one-woman show written and performed by Irish playwright Isolde Fenton, exploring health anxiety and the lengths people go to in search of certainty. The play follows Grá, a young Limerick woman, who returns to a GP surgery on Dame Street in Dublin for the fifth time in a month, spiraling through an ever-growing list of imagined symptoms in a rhythmic, unfiltered stream of consciousness. Developed from an idea born during the pandemic, the show draws on Fenton's lived experience of anxiety and hypochondria, examining how anxiety can distract from more fundamental truths. The production features an original score by Emily Donoghue and debuted at the inaugural Cork Fringe Festival in 2025, going on to receive two nominations at the 2025 Dublin Fringe Festival.