“How do you keep going if the song never ends?”: A review of the contemporary performance of I Would Prefer Not To
By Rhiannon Evans, February 3, 2026—
I Would Prefer Not To, produced by One Yellow Rabbit, is a contemporary stage performance created and starring David Gagnon Walker and Torri Morrison. Part confessional, part storytelling, I Would Prefer Not To focuses on themes of mental illness, memory, and meaning.
The performances are humorous and intimate, leaving the audience in a state of emotion that ranges from hopefulness to pure sadness. This is what makes this performance so profound. In this performance, we see our two protagonists having a conversation with each other. One protagonist is confessing his feelings and thoughts about his life and memories, and is very explicit about his journey through mental illness and how he has found meaning within this struggle. The other protagonist tells the audience the story of Bartleby, the Scrivener: Story of Wall Street, a short story written by Herman Melville in 1853. The story consists of Bartleby, who is a scrivener and how he politely refuses the demands of his boss and coworkers with the simple phrase “I would prefer not to”. This simple phrase is what connects our two characters’ stories.
The phrase “I would prefer not to” is simple but greatly effective when telling these stories. When listening to the confession of one protagonist (Walker) and his experiences with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, the phrase “I would prefer not to” reflects the feeling when an individual is in the throes of mental illness. Most individuals express that having depression feels like having a desire to get better or “knowing” how to get better, but depression simply stops you. As if it prefers you not to do anything.
On the other hand, the other character telling us the story of Bartleby (Morrison) and his famous phrase tells this story in a child-like way by using a puppet, a funny hat, and a music box. By telling this story in this way, it gives the audience a break from the heart wrenching confessional of our other character. But it also gives us insight into the conversation taking place between these two characters.
The conversation between the characters is a new look into how we interact with mental illness. With one side of the conversation being a confessional. As an audience, it allows us to be empathetic towards them and understand what life is like for someone dealing with depression (Walker), while the other character gives us insight into how hard it can be to care for someone with depression (Morrison).
As mentioned before, the phrase “I prefer not to” is what ties these characters together. On one hand, this phrase is said by the character with depression (Walker) expressing their feelings towards dealing with certain tasks, emotions and relationships. Exploring that it’s the mental illness of depression holding them back from doing these things. The character telling us the story (Morrison) is expressing how difficult it can be when someone you care about is battling this kind of mental illness, when you try your best to give them as much support and resources as you can, and the phrase “I prefer not to” can be crushing.
Overall, this performance is interesting and extremely thought-provoking. As an audience member, you are going through the motions similarly to these characters and at times it can be very emotional, which in my opinion is what makes theatre important. This performance allows us to feel those vulnerable emotions, and to me, that’s what makes this story so great. This show is not inherently about these characters; it’s also about us, the audience. We are our own characters in this performance because we see ourselves in this story, and that is why I’d recommend anyone to see this show; it allows us to feel seen.