Ohio, a transfer from the Edinburgh Fringe, is a buoyant and heartfelt musical exploration of intergenerational hearing loss, lovingly told by married couple Shaun and Abigail Bengson.
Shaun’s story, as the son of a Christian preacher who also lost his hearing, takes centre stage. Through song and spoken reflection, he recounts vivid memories of his rural Ohio childhood, his gradual estrangement from organised religion, and the figures who shaped him—including his father and an influential music teacher who helped him find confidence. Abigail lends sweetness and depth to their duets, layering on her close harmonies and using a reverb console to create textured echoes that enrich the soundscape.
Directed with clarity and sensitivity by Caitlin Sullivan, there is no trace of self-pity in Shaun’s account. Instead, his hearing loss is communicated with candour and artistry—visually, through projected slides of inner-ear damage, and aurally, via distorted reverb that lets the audience hear how ordinary speech can disintegrate into garbled fragments. On stage, the couple radiate tenderness—towards one another and towards the audience, and we are lulled into their unflinching yet tender view of the world. Shaun holds the centre, while Abigail, in the role of gentle compere, moves joyously around the stage, coaxing us to hum, clap, pray, and sing along.
The songs themselves are disarmingly direct, touching on themes of courage, mortality, and Shaun’s complicated feelings of guilt at passing on inherited hearing loss to his son. “We’re doing this to get less afraid of death,” they tell us early on, and that honesty frames the evening. Their harmonies are precise yet natural, blending influences from Abigail’s Jewish musical heritage with revivalist, spiritual-inflected rhythms that are by turns jubilant, plaintive, and deeply affecting.
The staging is simple but effective: two microphones, a table with the reverb box, a light box, and a projection screen. Lyrics and dialogue appear on the back wall, ensuring accessibility while underscoring the show’s central theme.
The result is a production that is intimate, generous, and quietly profound—an invitation to listen differently, both to music and to each other.
Ohio
Written and performed by Shaun and Abigail Bengson
Directed by: Caitlin Sullivan
Until: 24 October 2025
Running time: 75 minutes, without interval
Photo Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic