Oxford University Dramatic Society, Fishbowl Productions

STOP, a musical which relies on authenticity, and creating a genuine, honest, and truthful narrative that explores mental health, is the story of four tragic heroes.

Saved from their destiny by a magical bus stop, they are forced to stay and talk through their decisions, and to address their mental illnesses. They are excellent and relatable people who all find the power to save themselves.

An ‘everyman’ story, STOP finds four individuals at the same bus stop at the same time. Without knowing it each of them have reached a critical point in their mental illness such that decisions they make at the bus stop may lead to either their suicide, or their recovery.

As you meet the four Londoners, you will get to know their musical personality, their senses of humour, and what they learn from the transient relationships they develop with each other in the liminal space of the mysterious bus stop.

Just as the power of the characters is inherent within themselves, the power of STOP is inherent in the intimacy and the strength of the realism that is so essential to a performance of this kind. The contemporary importance of STOP is embedded in the development of character that is drawn out by Annabel Mutale-Reed’s plot and lyrics, and Leo Munby’s music, both developed in collaboration with Claude Michel Schonberg.

Never failing to attack it’s mission head on, STOP, on the OUDS National Tour, is the contemporary dramatisation of mental health that the theatrical world needs. The perfect balance of humour, musicality, and sobering realism, STOP asks all the necessary questions about mental health amidst a funny and enjoyable production about four very different, but very real characters.

This production may take you little further than an average London bus stop, but this is precisely the locality and relevance that mental health has in society today. A production that is not too sobering to make it un-enjoyable, the profound reality of these four characters does not take away from the vibrancy with which the actors portray their individuality through song.

Nevertheless, in the time you spend watching STOP, they hope that you will find reason to stop and ask the questions this production raises yourself.