Perla Ambrosini praised in Ten Ways to Die Happy following Edinburgh Fringe 2026
We’re delighted to celebrate the fantastic response to Ten Ways to Die Happy following its run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, featuring SiDonald client Perla Ambrosini as the show’s host.
The interactive production invited audience members on stage to experience an entire fictional lifetime in just one hour. With flowers representing their remaining time and energy, participants faced choices around love, work, ambition, family, risk and happiness, with Perla guiding each new life as it unfolded.
Following the festival, the production received praise from a number of national and theatre publications, with reviewers highlighting both its distinctive concept and the way it encouraged audiences to reflect on the choices that shape a life.
The Arts Desk awarded the production ★★★★, with reviewer David Kettle describing Perla as “the ideal guide” as she led participants through the decisions, consequences and unexpected turns of their newly created lives.
The Guardian also praised the production, describing Ten Ways to Die Happy as:
“A welcome reminder that we should all make the most of the time we have.”
The review highlighted Perla’s role at the centre of the experience, guiding participants through the show’s theatrical game of life.
Theatre Weekly described the production as:
“A clever, thought-provoking hour questioning your life choices.”
The production’s constantly changing format meant that every performance was different, with Perla responding live to the decisions made by each new group of participants and guiding multiple evolving lives from childhood through to old age.
The Scotsman praised the production as:
“What a strange, unusual, unexpectedly precise piece of work this is.”
While CulturalDose highlighted the way the show turns life’s biggest “what if” moments into something closer to a ticking-clock gameshow, without losing the warmth at the heart of the piece.
For Perla, the production required a huge amount of live responsiveness, balancing structure with the unpredictable choices of the audience and helping shape a completely different performance each day.
We’re incredibly proud of Perla Ambrosini for a fantastic Edinburgh Fringe run and for the recognition she received as the person guiding audiences through such an ambitious and unusual piece of live theatre.
A huge congratulations to Perla, Emanuele Aldrovandi, Jacopo Giacomoni and the entire Ten Ways to Die Happy company on a brilliant Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026.
Concept & Direction: Emanuele Aldrovandi
Dramaturgy: Emanuele Aldrovandi & Jacopo Giacomoni
Follow the production:
@autorivivi
@emanuele.aldrovandi
@sisifo_production
@underbellyedinburgh