Night Side Songs

About

Night Side Songs is a transformative new musical that gathers audiences in the space where life shifts due to illness, asking how people move through it. Inspired by Susan Sontag’s notion that “illness is the night side of life,” the piece amplifies the voices of patients, caregivers, and medical professionals. A key feature is its participatory format: audience members are given slender songbooks and invited to sing select passages as a chorus, fostering a feeling of communal care—participation is optional and welcoming. The staging, including Matt Saunders’ set of three high walls of tufted horizontal slats, supports intimate storytelling. Developed with and directed by Taibi Magar, the musical emerged from collaborations with American Repertory Theater and Philadelphia Theatre Company and later development at Lincoln Center’s Under the Radar. Content notes include depictions of medical procedures, cancer treatments, caregiving, loss, mortality, and strong language.