Marcelo Dos Santos’ Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen, now playing at the Sydney Opera House, is an absolute whirlwind—a darkly funny, profoundly self-aware monologue that dives headfirst into love, fear, self-sabotage, and the anxieties that can consume us whole. It’s a rapid-fire, breathless journey through the mind of an unnamed stand-up comedian who meets a man—”The American”—who actually seems interested in him. But instead of embracing it, he catastrophizes, convinced that something must inevitably go wrong.
The comedy is biting, but it’s also deeply, uncomfortably real. Dos Santos understands the rhythm of anxious thought patterns—how they loop, escalate, and spiral in on themselves until they’re impossible to escape. The play taps into that universal human fear: that we’re unlovable, that we’re going to ruin things, and that we should get out before we get hurt. The protagonist’s frantic logic is hilarious and heartbreaking, particularly when his need for control leads him to make a shocking decision.
Matthew Xia’s direction keeps the energy tight and the pacing relentless. The set is stark—a microphone stand, a red curtain—placing the entire weight of the show on Barnett’s shoulders. But he carries it effortlessly, filling the space with his presence alone.
We often enjoy theatre that resonates with us, whether it be a character or theme we can relate to. My partner and I both walked away from Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen a little startled by just how familiar it felt—his connection to the relentless, fast-paced mind space of living with anxiety and mine all too aware of the sexcapades of the gay world, where there’s always that one hookup who’s only ever a text away, yet with whom we share nothing beyond the transactional.
Samuel Barnett is magnetic. From the moment he steps on stage, he completely controls the audience, flitting effortlessly between biting humour and raw vulnerability. Dos Santos’ script is relentless, packed with sharp, self-deprecating wit that Barnett delivers with astonishing precision. He moves with the practised ease of a seasoned comedian, but the cracks in his confidence are where the actual performance shines—those fleeting moments where his bravado slips, and we see the fear beneath. It’s painfully relatable, capturing the exhausting internal monologue of overthinking with such pinpoint accuracy that it occasionally feels like the play is reading your mind.
What makes Feeling Afraid so impactful is how universally it speaks to the experience of fear—whether it’s about intimacy, self-worth, or simply the unknown. For some, it’s the anxiety-fueled overanalysis of every relationship. For others, it’s the complicated, sometimes self-destructive ways gay men navigate modern dating and sex. It hits different parts of the audience in various ways, but it always hits.
Darkly hilarious, brutally honest, and achingly real, Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen is a masterclass in storytelling and performance. It makes you laugh, it makes you squirm, and it lingers in your mind long after the curtain falls.
– The other Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig is an international performer and has established himself as a trusted theatre specialist on the Sydney Arts Scene. While he understands the technical side of theatre, Dan writes for the everyday theatregoer (unlike some of those more prominent publications). When not in the audience, he loves to travel the world trying new gin. Follow him on all the socials @talldancraig
Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen runs for 65 minutes (with no interval) and plays at the Playhouse, Sydney Opera House, through 23 February 2025. Tickets are available through the Sydney Opera House.
Disclosure: The Plus Ones were guests of Sydney Opera House.
Image credit: Daniel Boud
