Something To Believe In

1sentence review: The first Fringe show I saw in 2024, and a firework: you had the whole audience there in your country, your school, your perspective, all in (aha) technicolour. Thank you so much!

I have always known SAS to be a comic genius, and Something To Believe In is testament to the fact that she is not only an incredible performer - she is stupid hilarious and immediately lovable - but also a brilliant writer. This show is so funny and heartfelt and important. I laughed, I cried, I got mad about America - the full gamut of emotional experiences. More than anything, I left feeling hopeful - what a beautiful love letter to queerness and community.

SAS is one of those New York performers I see and I'm grateful I got the chance before she becomes a recurring actor in a major tv show or ditches us for the movies!

Beautiful show! Sharp direction that doesn't overtake the story - a love letter to queer girls who were repressed due to the cult of christianity. I personally felt seen.

Really really worth while show to see! It is so brilliantly done, I literally could not stop laughing. Shull has phenomenal stage presence and kept me focused and interested the entire time! 10/10 recommend

SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN is a shimmering, complex love letter to coming-of-age queer in a world that wants you to be anything but, guided by its star's steady stage presence and endless charms. The spell she conjures goes from pop culture references and choreography breaks to the most digestible TED Talk about religious conservatism imaginable to ever-so-relatable school-year throwbacks and manifests faith in something deeper and more tangible than church could ever muster: community. The conviction SAS communicates with her lucky flock here at EdFringe 2024 is, frankly, the most convincing queer self-empowerment I've experienced this side of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." And you can take that to the bank: I'm the gayest millennial there is. SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN is not just a rallying cry for holding your loved ones close—yourself included—but an antidote to the easy cynicism that rots so much theatrical storytelling from the inside-out. What an accomplishment.

SAS has a spooky resemblance to my 2nd partner in the 80s/90s (it's the hair and the smile), also the victim of a RC high school, albeit in Hampshire, England. So I had to check out the show.

A great script and I loved the touches like the school bell as punctuation.

A few things resonated from my ex's experiences. The Church has millennia of the brightest theologians in its history, but the front-line teachers seem incapable of explaining the nuances and reasoning of the dogma. When my ex questioned the idea of a 'holy ghost', when ghosts are surely dead people, the priest, rather than explain the different meanings of spectre and spirit, made her stand up and told the class, "this is what a heretic looks like!"

So this play was memory triggering and thought-provoking stuff and well-leavened with humour. Took me a while to get references as I is old and know almost nothing of Miranda, and didn't recognise the term 'choreo' (-graphy, obviously, duh!).

I think a few of the gags and sardonic comments would have landed better with a comedian's delivery, rather than a (good) actor's, but then doing the whole thing as a stand-ip comedy routine could have ruined it. I'll be interested to watch this talented Kentuckian's progress.

This show has so much heart! I laughed, I cried, I was along for the ride with our protagonist, whose bubbly personality transported us into the terrifying halls of an all-girls Catholic school. A good watch!

SAS is a theater mastermind!! Her gorgeous, hilarious, and emotional writing is some of the best I have witnessed at the festival. Not to mention she is an incredible performer, effortlessly balancing her complex thoughts and ideas with clear and captivating delivery. Not to be missed!!

A compelling and FUNNY hour; the entire production is carefully crafted and beautifully written and performed. Even folks without a Catholic school background (like me!!) will find a TON to relate to here - and even if you don't, the amount of belly laughs will keep you going.

WOWOWOW! Hilarious, heartfelt, engaging and poignant. Loved every minute of it. Sas gives us a nuanced, personal, and tender story of a young queer girl's experience of the Catholic religion: the damage, the confusion, the guilt, the joy, and the faith. Our holiest act is to keep each other alive. SEE THIS SHOW!

I laughed so much! Something to Believe In and Sarah's engaging performance stay light and optimistic even as she clearly sketches out the darkness in American Catholicism and the political system. Bravo to all involved!

Something To Believe In is both touching and silly. This one if for all the all-girls-school girlies and it won't disappoint. Simple but specific staging is the icing on top of this hilarious one-woman show.

There are plays that entertain, those that make you laugh, that make you think – even educate –, others that touch your heart. ‘Something To Believe In’ manages the balancing act of ALL of these, and it does not merely ‘manage’ it: It burns bright as a supernova in its flawless writing, performance and direction.

Sarah Alice Shull’s personal queer journey through her time at an all-girls’ Catholic school sublimely questions the indoctrination of religion and hypocrisy of the church when all that matters, no, all that SHOULD matter is that hate in the name of religion is not the answer. Rather loving and accepting yourself and others in spite of everything that is drummed into us is.

That is not all. “Something To Believe In” touches on the history and current state of American politics (think Catholic girls’ school and Roe v Wade, among others!) woven into Sarah Alice Shull’s journey on stage in a way that it can only leave you in awe.
A beautiful, heart-warming, thought-provoking show!
★★★★★

SAS cures the catholic guilt right out of you. A genuine and moving performance about questioning faith amidst identity formation. Run to go see this show! See it before it sells out, or you’ll have to pray you get in!

This show had me laughing NON-STOP! I don’t remember the last time I laughed so much in a show. It’s a perfect comedy for millennials!

This show is a perfect combination of humorous and poignant. SAS's on-stage presence is endearing and winning. Being deftly & sharply directed is icing on the cake. Bravo to the entire creative team!