ED2017 5/5 Reviews ED2017 Theatre Reviews

Not I (Touretteshero and Battersea Arts Centre)

By | Published on Sunday 27 August 2017

Jess Thom is bloody brilliant. She performs Samuel Beckett’s short monologue exactly as required by the stage directions – eight foot in the air (still in her wheelchair), with only her mouth visible. It’s a tumbling, frenetic, mesmerising stream of words, designed to be ‘felt’ more than understood intellectually. Afterwards there’s a video and a chance to discuss both the show, and how Thom’s Tourettes became an integral part of it. The performance has fully integrated audio description and British Sign Language interpretation (in itself beautiful and poetic during the monologue), and we’re encouraged to move around, make noise – whatever makes us feel comfortable. Thom is an incredible, passionate advocate for the social model of disability, and this is theatre at its most accessible, the most relaxed of ‘relaxed performances’, and it’s an absolute joy to be a part of.

Pleasance Courtyard.
tw rating 5/5 | [Gemma Scott]

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